<em>Worsham-Rockefeller Room</em>, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, DIG_E_2015_Worsham-Rockefeller_Room_Moorish_smoking_room_01_PS8_46.43.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, DIG_E_2015_Worsham-Rockefeller_Room_Moorish_smoking_room_01_PS8_46.43.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_installation_interior_visitors_in_room1_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_installation_interior_visitors_in_room2_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_installation_interior_visitors_in_room3_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_installation_interior_visitors_in_room4_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg29366_in_situ_exterior_gottscho_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg29369_in_situ_exterior_gottscho_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_yr1977_installation_interior_visitors_in_room_print_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg22691-17_in_situ_exterior_cropped_acetate_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg22691-B_in_situ_exterior_cropped_acetate_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg22691-C_in_situ_exterior_cropped_acetate_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg22691-D_in_situ_exterior_cropped_acetate_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg22691-E_in_situ_exterior_cropped_acetate_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.43_neg22691-F_in_situ_exterior_cropped_acetate_bw_IMLS.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Where was the Rockefeller House located in New York City?

The house was located at 4 West 54th Street in Manhattan. The Moorish room was actually where the sculpture garden at MoMA is today!

The house was the standard size of a townhouse in that area although there was not much around the area at the time. New York was just beginning to be built up in the 1860s and the more north you went, the more rural it was still.

This room is furnished in the, "Aesthetic Movement Style." This describes "a Western style based on the architecture and decorative arts of the Muslim inhabitants (the Moors) of north-west Africa and (between 8th and 15th centuries) of southern Spain; it is often used imprecisely to include Arab and Indian influences." Studies of Moorish art and architecture began around 1815 and focused on the design and color patterns. The Moorish style was reserved for masculine spaces such as billiards and smoking rooms as well as halls. Style characteristics include arches, patterned walls and fabrics, dark woodwork and tasseled and fringed chairs. The style evoked the romantic, "imaginary, dreamlike Orient," and was attractive to artists, writers and travelers. The style was popular in the West for the person seeking an eclectic design style. Interior architectural materials in United States interpretations of Moorish spaces particularly would include stone, brick or wood. The style fell out of fashion by the early twentieth century.

Can you tell me more about Arabella Duval Yarrington Worsham? She has the Moorish Room preserved here in Brooklyn, and a pendant room in the Virginia museum of Fine Art, but how could she afford so much?

Arabella became a resident of New York City after the Civil War. Before she moved, it is suspected she had an illegitimate child by a man named John A. Worsham, whose last name she took. She was married multiple times and one of her marriages was to the railroad tycoon Collis Huntington (who may also be the father of her son, it is not certain).

Through her marriage to Huntington, she was able to purchase the home on West 54th street, where this room comes from, and lived comfortably and fashionably.

Was she wealthy before the war? She was a wealthy Virginian who fled to the North when the war broke out, correct?

Not much is known about her before the war. In fact, she would tell people different years that she was born so no one knows when she was really born, and it is not truly known if she is actually from Virginia (although this is widely accepted).

What style is this room? It looks incredible!

The Moorish style was reserved for masculine spaces such as billiards and smoking rooms as well as halls. It is a Western style influenced by the architecture and decorative arts of the Muslim inhabitants (the Moors) of north-west Africa and (between 8th and 15th centuries) of southern Spain.

The style was popular in the West for the person seeking an eclectic design style and design elements included flat, geometric patterns, arches, patterned walls and fabrics and dark woodwork. It fell out of fashion by the early twentieth century.

What is the style of this room?

The "Moorish Style" is one of many "revival styles" that Americans used to furnish their homes in the mid- to later 19th century.

It was often used for rooms like smoking rooms and billiards rooms in affluent homes.

It was inspired by the architecture and furnishings of Muslims who lived in northwest Africa and southern Spain in an earlier era (8th-15th centuries) or, more generally, all sorts of Arab and Indian decorative arts.

It evoked the faraway world of "the Orient" for Westerners and it's distinctive for its use of dark woods, details like tassels and fringes, and patterns like the ones you'll see on the walls and woodwork here.

Tell me about the Moorish Room.

This was a very fashionable style in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Can you see the arabesque detailing on the wall? The tiling and the gilt detailing? And the very detailed ceilings?

The owner brought in a design firm to decorate in this quite trendy style, and the firm chose elements typical of the Maghreb style.

It was a very romantic style. The woman who lived here clearly wanted her visitors to see her as creative, cultured, and cutting-edge in her taste.

The decoration around the top edge of the ceiling is interesting. What's the story on that?

The general style of this room, part of the Aesthetic Movement, was influenced by the Moors in northwest Africa and southern Spain.

So lots of detailing and decoration, like the Ahlambra in Spain.

One interesting fact about this room: the house where this room was located was demolished after Rockefeller died, and the land was given to the Museum of Modern Art. Their sculpture garden is in the location where this room used to be! Something nice to think of next time you visit.

How might the decoration style of this room reflect the anti-immigration policies of the same time period that limited immigration of people of Asian cultures/eastern cultures in general to the U.S.?

Actually, this room is furnished in what is called the "Moorish Style," which is characterized by the architecture and decorative arts of the the "Moors," Muslim inhabitants of north-west Africa and, between 8th and 15th centuries, of southern Spain.

This style in the West was popularized by someone seeking an eclectic style, something Mrs. Arabella Worsham was definitely interested in. So although it may look like the style is characterized by a more Asian style, which it is often confused for, it actually comes from the Near East and India.

There is another room from her home in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

What is the deal with this room?

Hi there! This room was owned first by Arabella Yarrington Worsham Huntington, wife of railroad tycoon Collis P. Huntington, and then John D. Rockefeller.

It is furnished in the 'Moorish' or 'Aesthetic Movement' style, which was a Western interpretation based on the architecture and decorative arts of the Moors (inhabitants of north-west Africa, 700s-1400s) with Indian and Islamic elements included. The entire room was designed by little-known interior decorator George A. Schastey, there is currently an exhibition on Schastey, and another room from Arabella's home, at The Met in Manhattan.

Do you know when it's from?

Yes, Arabella remodeled the room in this style around 1881. The aesthetic style was popular at the time for those with eclectic taste (and money, of course).

Welcome back! You're looking at one of my favorite period rooms, the Gilded Age Reception Room from the later 19th century in New York.

Do you see the photo of Arabella Worsham Rockefeller on the wall to the right?

No.

She was the original owner of this room and its house, and she hired the interior decorator George A. Schastey to design and furnish the room.

I see.. What was her background?

She was a fascinating person -- she was definitely a trend-setter by furnishing the room in this way with Mr Schastey, but her story is much bigger!...

She was born Arabella Duval Yarrington in Virginia and she became a resident of New York City after the Civil War. While she never married John A. Worshman, she used the name Mrs. Worsham after having his child.

She became the mistress of Collis P. Huntington, a railroad tycoon who was 40 years older. He bought her a townhouse (where this room comes from) right down the street from where he lived with his wife! It was a very elegant "love nest."

Interior decorator was actually a pretty new profession in the United States at the time -- in the decades after the Civil War, the so-called "Robber Barons" self-made American financiers and industrialists amassed vast personal fortunes. These "robber barons" began building and furnishing luxurious houses and they needed decorators who could assist them in realizing their visions of palatial surroundings.

Is the ceiling original as well?

And yes, the ceiling is also original!

Is there any biographical information about Mr. Huntington and how he acquired his wealth?

Collis P. Huntington, was a railroad tycoon of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads. Arabella was first his mistress and it was during this period that he bought her the townhome where the Gilded Age Reception Room comes from. The townhome was right down the street from where Huntington lived with his wife (until she passed away).

Interesting!

How many people would typically live in that Guilded age brownstone?

As for the Gilded Age room, as far as I know the owner lived there with a staff of about 15 servants. She was the mistress of Collis P. Huntington, railroad tycoon, when he purchased it for her and it was just down the street where he lived with his wife after Huntington's wife passed away, Collis built a new house at 57th St and 5th Ave with Arabella.

Why do these rooms always seem to be decorated in such a dark way. Were there really as few windows as there are shown in the museum installations?

The textiles in the rooms are sensitive to light. To preserve them we keep them in dimly lit rooms.

Does the Rockefeller house still stand today?

No, the house was destroyed after J.D. Rockefeller's death in 1937. The site is actually where the garden of the Museum of Modern Art is today, in Midtown, Manhattan!

Is the lighting in this room the same as it would have been historically?

The room is currently kept dark to help preserve the colors in the textiles and wall painting. Having said that, the Moorish-revival style of decor did tend to have a heavy, dark atmosphere overall, as a result of the darkly-painted woods and deep, rich color palette.

Under what influence was the private American interior during 1850-1880 with the high ceilings and relatively low chairs, tables, and couch?

At this time, a style known as the Aesthetic Movement was very popular in America. The style drew inspiration from a wide range of sources- India, Japan, France, Egypt - and combined them in a unique way. This room is in the “Moorish” style and includes details like stalactite ceilings, arabesque patterns on the walls, and low furniture.

What inspired the design of this room?

You're looking at the Worsham-Rockefeller Room. No doubt you've noticed how highly patterned and colored everything is. The room is decorated in an orientalist style. In other words, many of the motifs are imagined or copied to bring to mind an "exotic" look associated with Asia and the middle east.

This room is also known as the "Moorish room" because it specifically focuses on the Moorish style of furniture and architecture popular in the United States at the time. The style, inspired by Spanish and Middle Eastern design elements, can be seen, for instance, in the arabesques on the walls, the arched windows, and the gilt details.

Thank you.

Why was this house chosen for display in the museum?

The last owners of this house were the Rockefellers and it was on the site of what is now the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art. Before the home was torn down, a few of its rooms were offered to museum to preserve the history of its elaborate decor! It is a terrific example of the highly-ornamented interiors that were so popular in the United States in the final decades of the 19th century!

Thank you!

I really love the little models of the houses.

Those are great! I recently learned a little bit about the model maker. He had a fascinating life!

Albert Fehrenbacher was a master woodcarver from the Black Forest region in Germany. Taken prisoner during the Second World War, he spent five years in a Russian camp during which time he began work on a panoramic Nativity scene, designed to carry the message of peace and brotherhood for all.

Upon his release, he brought his Nativity scene to the United States, where it was shown in over 150 churches across the country. He was hired to work at several American museums, building models.

Grateful for the friendliness with which he was received in the United States, Fehrenbacher said, “This country, it has been good to me. I am happy in this work I do for the Brooklyn Museum." He apologized for “having much trouble with speaking English...but I hope I speak from heart to heart with my models.”

That is such a wonderful story. My father was born in a Russian camp during the war.

Wow, what a fascinating link.

I am looking at the "Gilded Age Reception Room." Why not call it Arabella Worsham Huntington’s room? It was her house, right?

Yes, you are correct. The museum actually changed the label recently from "Worsham-Rockefeller Room: Moorish Smoking Room from the John D. Rockefeller House"

This home was first owned by Arabella Worsham and then by John D. Rockefeller.

Ok, got it, thanks. Can I ask why the museum decided to change the label?

The main reason is that it switched the emphasis. The curator wanted to tell the story of the era and the design work that you actually see in the Museum, rather than focus on the home's owners.

How long does it take to install period rooms?

The exact length of time may vary, but the process is usually the same: first, each piece is labeled and numbered when they are removed from their original location, then they are reassembled here like a puzzle.

Of course, a single room doesn't take as long as a whole house. Some installations also require more actual construction than others.

The Weil-Worgelt Study and the Gilded Age Reception Room, for example, are both entirely original.

In the Cupola House, on the other hand, only the wood trim in original. The rest of the house was recreated based on meticulous notes and measurements from the original building.

Amazing! Thank you!

Worsham-Rockefeller Room

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Decorative Art, 19th Century, 4th Floor

MEDIUM Mixed media

DATES built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881

DIMENSIONS 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts and Design

ACCESSION NUMBER 46.43

CREDIT LINE Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Decorative Art, 19th Century, 4th Floor

CAPTION Worsham-Rockefeller Room, built ca. 1864–1865; remodeled ca. 1881. Mixed media, 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 ft. (5.3 x 4.7 m). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and John D. Rockefeller III, 46.43. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, DIG_E_2015_Worsham-Rockefeller_Room_Moorish_smoking_room_01_PS8_46.43.jpg)

IMAGE installation, DIG_E_2015_Worsham-Rockefeller_Room_Moorish_smoking_room_01_PS8_46.43.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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