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More than 100 years after it was moved from its original site, Alexander Hamilton's home is restored, relocated, and open to visitors.
He was a Founding Father who gained the trust of George Washington at an early age, while serving as the general's aide de camp during the Revolutionary War. He helped draft the U.S. Constitution. And as our first secretary of the treasury, he developed the nation's banking system. But all Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) really wanted was to be perceived as a gentleman.
"Hamilton was the quintessential selfmade man," says Maria Burks, commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor, which manages Hamilton's home, located in Harlem. "He was born poor in the West Indies, probably out of wedlock, and was orphaned at 13," she says. "As he gained prominence, it was very important to him that he own a home that reflected his position."
When The Grange- named after Hamilton's grandfather's estate in Scotland- reopens to the public for the first time in five years, visitors will finally get an accurate sense of how he and his architect achieved that goal. The September unveiling follows an extensive relocation and restoration effort that's been under discussion since 1962, when the National Park Service assumed ownership of the house.
The house's troubled history began long before then. Hamilton would live in what he called his "sweet country project" for just two years after it was finished in 1802. One summer...