Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Residence

You are approaching a pair of conjoined townhouses at forty-seven and forty-nine East Sixty-fifth Street that served as the primary New York City residence for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt for nearly twenty-five years. Sara Delano Roosevelt, Franklin's mother, commissioned this building as a gift for the couple, but she ensured her influence remained permanent by occupying the adjacent unit herself. To facilitate her presence, Sara had interconnecting doors installed throughout the parlor and sitting rooms, allowing her to enter her son's home whenever she pleased. Eleanor later recalled that these early years living under such close maternal supervision made it difficult for her to feel that the space was truly her own.