I visited the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Historical Site today.
It was fun.
It's easy to find... It's on 20th street between 5th and Park Avenues. I mean, I found it, and I can get lost crossing the street.
It's a brownstone (easily recognizable because the American flag is flying from its front porch), and to get in, you go through the servants entrance which is down a short flight of stairs.
Admission is free, so you can't beat the price.
Park rangers discussed the basic policies of the place (check you bags, no flash photography), then I wandered around the gallery right there: it discussed TR's childhood.
They also showed a 25 minute long movie about TR's childhood. It was okay. It wasn't strictly a documentary, and the acting was cute. It just... it felt like an episode of that old show The Wonder Years.
From there, we went on the guided tour of the house. They show five rooms: the parlour, the library, the dining room, the master bedroom, and TR's bedroom.
The tour took a little over thirty minutes. Our guide was very knowledgeable and personable. She encouraged questions and pointed out interesting things about the place.
The ranger gave a lot of interesting information about TR, whose childhood nickname was Teedie. For instance, I knew he had asthma, but I didn't know all the treatments they tried -- including fast carriage rides, smoking cigars (for the nicotine?), and lots of coffee.
His parents were a topic (I mean, obviously), especially their generosity and commitment to education. During the Civil War, for example, TR's father, Theodore sr, supported the Union, but his mother was from the South, and sent aid packages to the Confederacy through her brother.
The whole family would gather in the dining room, and would debate the issues of the day there. The children were expected to have opinions and express them.
This house, however, didn't have indoor plumbing. They had water closets and chamberpots.
Ick.
It's not the original building. That was torn down in 1919, but the Roosevelt family raised money to buy the property back, and they rebuilt it, using the house next door, which used to belong to Theodore senior's brother, as a basis to replicate it.
All of the furniture is either the original furniture or furniture from the extended Roosevelt clan. (Eleanor Roosevelt, for instance, donated the fine china.)
The wallpaper is all reproductions of what was actually there-- the patterns were on file with the wallpaper manufacturer.
The park service took the house next door and converted it into a research library.
One piece of advice: it was not a very warm day, but I was still sweating some by the time the tour was over. I would avoid doing it during hit weather.