The five-story dark red brick house was built in 1913-14 as a private residence for Lewis Gouverneur Morris, a financier and descendant of Gouverneur Morris, a signer of the Articles of Confederation and United States Constitution, and Alletta Nathalie Lorillard Bailey.

[2] In 1917, Morris & Pope (Lewis Governeur Morris’ stock brokerage firm) is bankrupt but the family retains ownership of this house as well as their house in Newport, RI because his wife owned the property as collateral for a loan to him for his brokerage business.

[4] Designed by the famous architect Ernest Flagg using an asymmetrical plan, the house's distinctive style was inspired by English Queen Anne architecture, along with Colonial and Federal architectural styles.

Its address is 1015 Park Avenue, although its entrance is around the corner at 100 East 85th Street.

The house was made a New York City Designated Landmark on January 24, 1967, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.