Saturday, May 17, 2025
Day Trip to Historic Homes of Long Island

Tickets are now available for our annual day trip, exclusively for Members of the American Friends of the Georgian Group.

The day will begin at the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio. The 1912 Beaux Arts pavilion style home was designed by Williams Adams Delano and doubled as Mrs. Whitney’s studio. Mrs. Whitney sculpted numerous public memorials, including the Titanic Memorial in Washington, D.C., and endowed the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The group will also visit Old Westbury Gardens, built for John Shaffer Phipps. The Carolean home was designed by George A. Crawley, a purveyor of English taste. The home was opened as a museum in 1959. The program includes lunch to follow at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho.

The day ends with a special visit to the spectacular Fort Hill Estate after lunch. Built in 1879 and expanded in 1900 for dye and chemical industrialist William John Matheson, the Tudor Revival home sits on the site of Fort Franklin. Fort Franklin was built in 1778 as part of a network of forts on Long Island, and became a depot for woodcutting and loyalist refugees from across the colonies. It was attacked by a French force in July, 1781 as part of a diversionary tactic as the Franco-American force marched to Yorktown. The fort, named for Benjamin Franklin’s loyalist son, was frequently commanded by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, whose portrait proudly adorns a hall.

Bus leaves East 72nd Street and Park Avenue at 8:30 a.m. Tickets $250 Members
You must be a member of the AFGG to attend and you may bring one non-member guest. This day trip will sell out, so please sign up early.

New Date: Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m.
Young Georgians Tour: Maritime City
A.A. Thomson & Co. building, 213–215 Water Street, New York

The Young Georgians are invited to a private tour of the Seaport Museum’s latest exhibition, Maritime City. Housed within the historic A.A. Thomson & Co. building, this three-floor exhibit showcases 540 deliberately-selected objects from the Museum’s Collections of 80,000 works of art, historical artifacts, and archival records.

Highlights within this expansive exhibition include: the 22-foot long 1935 builder model of the celebrated ocean liner RMS Queen Mary; paintings by the renowned maritime painters James Edward Buttersworth, Antonio Jacobsen, and Gordon Grant; a rare surviving wheel from the French ocean liner SS Normandie; and turn-of-the-century glass plate negatives by the photography studio of George P. Hall & Son—including one of the fireworks display for the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge. Objects on view include long-held artifacts and archival materials not previously seen by the public. Visitors are invited to open flat file drawers to uncover historical arts and crafts techniques, including technical drawings and ship plans, letterpress broadsides, lithographs, and wood engravings.

Tickets: $35 for Young Georgians and guests. Optional drinks to follow (on consumption).

 
Monday, June 23rd, 2 p.m.
Members Only: Tour of the Grand Lodge Masonic Hall
71 West 23rd Street, New York

On Monday, June 23rd, at 2 p.m. members of AFGG are invited to tour the various chambers of the Grand Lodge Masonic Hall NYC located at 71 west 23rd St New York. Light refreshments provided.

Tickets: $60 AFGG Members & Young Georgians. This is a members-only event, please join or renew now to purchase tickets.

 

Saturday, August 2, 2025
Day Trip to Pelham Bay Park and Environs

The first stop will be a private house in Pelham Manor known as 'Pelhamdale', which Philip Pell II built of stone in 1750. The current owners will tell us of their experiences restoring this historic home, and what they have learned about the Pell family.

The incredible Bartow-Pell Mansion will be next, with a tour of the home and exquisite gardens and carriage house. Bartow-Pell has one of the most extensive collections of Duncan Phyfe furniture in the country. Carswell Berlin, the furniture expert for Bartow Pell, will be providing a tour focusing on important pieces in the collection.

The mansion was the first home of the International Garden Club which funded the original restoration by Delano & Aldrich Architects, who also designed the formal gardens. Guests will end the day with a cocktail hour at the museum.

Tickets $135 Members
Transportation is not included. You must be a member of the AFGG to attend and you may bring one non-member guest.