Built of native fieldstone in the vernacular English Georgian style in 1748, Van Cortlandt House is the oldest surviving building in The Bronx. It was the centerpiece of a large provisioning plantation established circa 1691 by Jacobus Van Cortlandt and built and improved upon by enslaved people. Five generations of the Van Cortlandt family lived there through the late 1880s, when the plantation was sold to the City of New York for use as public parkland. The house retains much of its original character, including unique brownstone gargoyle-like keystones over the front windows and an ornate carved mantel in the East Parlor.