Editing Murray Hill, Manhattan (section)

==== Creation of Murray estate ====
By the late 1750s, Murray was relatively successful and wished to build his own mansion.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 10-20" /> Before 1762, Murray had leased some land in a sparsely populated portion of Manhattan island for use as for his large house and farm.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 21-22">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|pp=21–22}}</ref> Murray's house was built on a since-leveled hill at what is today [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]] and 36th Street.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Murray p. 4" /> The hill was named ''Inclenberg'', or "fire beacon hill" in Dutch, referencing the fact that settlers of [[New Amsterdam]] used fire beacons to give notice of armed Native American groups.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" />  The Murray farm's total area was just under {{convert|30|acre|m2}}.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /> The farm began a few feet south of modern-day [[33rd Street (Manhattan)|33rd Street]] and extended north to the middle of the block between 38th and 39th Streets.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{harvnb|Wuebber|Morin|2007|ps=|p=3.3}}, gives a northern boundary between 42nd and 43rd Streets.</ref> At the southern end, the plot was narrow, but at the northern end it extended from approximately [[Lexington Avenue]] to a spot between [[Madison Avenue|Madison]] and [[Fifth Avenue]]s.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 21-22" /><ref name="Murray pp. 4-5">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|pp=4–5}}</ref>

The great square house, west of the [[Boston Post Road|Eastern Post Road]], was approached by an avenue of mixed trees leading from the road.<ref group="lower-alpha">Shown on a detail of the British Headquarters map, {{circa|1781}} in {{harvnb|Sanderson|2009|p=55, fig. a}}. The orchards are shown behind the house to the north.</ref> It was flanked on three sides by verandas and contained apartments on either side of a large hall.<ref name="Murray pp. 4-5" /> The mansion was at approximately the present location of Park Avenue and 37th Street. Near the house were a barn, kitchen, and stable.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" /><ref name="Monaghan pp. 3-4">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|pp=3–4}}</ref> The Murray farm was bounded to the north by Thomas Bridgen Atwood's farm, which was on the western side of the Eastern Post Road between modern-day 38th and 41st Streets, and to the east by [[Jacobus Kip]]'s farm, along the eastern side of the same road from 28th to 39th Street extending to the East River.<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 8; NYCL (2004) p. 7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2002|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2004|ps=.|p=7}}</ref>

The site overlooked the East River and [[Kips Bay, Manhattan|Kips Bay]].<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Murray pp. 4-5" /> Like the other grand projects created by distinguished residents upon Manhattan's prominent rises of ground, the Murray house was used for purposes other than farming.{{efn|See for some examples [[Richmond Hill (Manhattan)|Richmond Hill]], the [[Apthorp Farm]], the [[Morris-Jumel Mansion]], [[Gracie Mansion]], and [[Hamilton Grange National Memorial|Alexander Hamilton's "Grange"]]}} According to historians [[Edwin G. Burrows]] and [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Mike Wallace]], while some of these farms were for-profit enterprises, "their primary purpose—besides providing refuge from epidemics—was to serve as theaters of refinement".<ref>{{harvnb|Burrows|Wallace|1999|p=179}}.</ref> One descendant wrote that Robert Murray "entertained at various times almost every foreigner of distinction who came to the American shores".<ref name="NYCL (2002) p. 7; NYCL (2004) p. 6" /><ref name="Murray p. 5">{{harvnb|Murray|1894|ps=.|p=5}}</ref><ref name="Monaghan p. 22">{{harvnb|Monaghan|1998|ps=.|p=22}}</ref> Early in 1773, and again in 1774, advertisements for the Inclenberg estate were circulated, positioning the house and farm as a summer mansion.<ref name="Wuebber Morin 2007 p. 3" />