Dyckman Farmhouse Museum is located in Inwood. Are you familiar with Inwood? Count yourself lucky. During our short stay, we were mildly sexually harassed, witnessed a man selling shrimp from the trunk of his car, learned of the new fad in butt-padded underwear, intervened in a fight a toddler was attempting to start with a pigeon, and had racially-motivated insults hurled at us. Well.
Dyckman Farmhouse is a calm, sweet respite from the neighborhood. Across the street from a liquor store and a gas station, it sits aloof on it’s own hill, surrounded by well-manicured gardens. In contrast to the opulence of Morris-Jumel Mansion, Dyckman Farmhouse is cozy, humble, and has UNBELIEVABLY LOW CEILINGS. Oh yeah.
The main takeaway from this experience was how much people have changed in only 200 years’ time. I’m 5’8″, but in the city of models and professional athletes, I am probably considered short, but for real? Getting around this house was totally excercise – bend and crouch and stoop and pivot, it was hard work! I can only imagine that visitors in the next century will need to crawl their way through the museum on their knees!
If you’re brave enough for Inwood, you deserve to find this hidden gem. Sure, the neighborhood is terrifying, to say the least, but once you climb the stone steps up to the farmhouse, you step back in time to a simpler era. When man (child) and bird (pigeon) existed in harmony in nature. Even within the crazy, hectic city.
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