Manhattan’s oldest surviving house, the Morris-Jumel Mansion atop Harlem Heights, is a monument to colonial grandeur. Built about 1765 as a summer retreat for British colonel Roger Morris and his wife, Mary Philipse, its distinctive style was very advanced for its time. Morris, the son of a successful English architect, may have influenced the Palladian design, which includes a two-story portico and triangular pediment, classical columns, and a large octagonal room at the rearthe first of its kind in the country.