A Lifelong Commitment to the Village – Pi Gardner’s Oral History, Pt. 1

Our new oral history published in October of 2024 celebrates the legacy of Margaret “Pi” Gardiner, Greenwich Village native and long-time executive director of the Merchant’s House Museum. Published this past October, Pi’s interview with our oral historian, Josie Naron, illuminates how her family’s deep history in New York City and Long Island inspired her interest in archives and historic preservation, and how this interest brought her to the Merchant’s House Museum. Pi discusses her continued fight to preserve the Merchant’s House, one of New York City’s oldest landmarks and the finest example of a preserved 19th-century row house inside and out in the city. This fight continues to this day as the proposed development next door threatens the house’s historic features. 

Pi’s oral history joins our rich collection, including interviews with some of the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. Our oral histories capture and preserve valuable first-person perspectives on important events and movements which have shaped our neighborhoods, city, nation, and world.

Today we take a look at Pi Gardiner’s early years, her childhood, education, and how she serendipitously found herself at the Merchant’s House Museum.

Pi begins her oral history by discussing deep family roots in New York City and Long Island. Much of her family has lived in Long Island for generations, primarily centered around the town of Quogue. Pi mentions a particularly notable family home which was initially purchased by her great-great-great grandfather, a whaling captain. Chock full of decades of family papers, artifacts, and memorabilia, she reflects on the impact that this tangible connection to family history had on her later career interests, saying:

“Growing up, there were trunks up in the attic filled with clothes from the 18th and 19th century. There were letters and documents and the furniture. It is the story of the Merchant’s House. And I am telling you that the reason I landed at the Merchant’s House is whoever is up there, the goddesses in the universe have these little strings and they just sit and go, ‘Oh, she’s got to go to the Merchant’s House,’ and sent me to the Merchant’s House” 

Much of Pi’s childhood occurred in and around Greenwich Village in the 50’s and 60’s. She lived in MacDougal Sullivan Gardens with her parents for many years. MacDougal Sullivan Gardens is a group of 22 Greek Revival homes located on MacDougal and Sullivan Streets that encircle a private garden and greenspace. Due to their architectural and cultural significance, MacDougal Sullivan Gardens was landmarked in 1967 — one of New York City’s earliest designated historic districts.

As a child, living in MacDougal Sullivan Gardens gave Pi a deep sense of community, and allowed for freedom and play. She recounts her childhood wonder in our oral history:

“And the garden was, I mean, an idyllic place to grow up. Backdoors were just kept unlocked and you just ran in and out, there were a whole bunch of kids. You know, there was a little basketball court and we played baseball and during the — every season, depending on what. Halloween, we had a — all the houses had candy. And we had a Halloween parade, everybody dressed up. And then you went and trick or treated at all the houses in the garden.”

“And then in the spring, first weekend in May — first Saturday in May, which also is [the] Kentucky Derby. We had something called “digging day,” because the whole center — there were two parterres of grass. And so, everybody went out and contributed and dug up the dirt and planted grass seed and did the weeds and pulled out and blah, blah, blah. And then there was a magnificent lunch that, you know, everybody contributed to. Macaroni and cheese by Nelly Schneider, the best ever with that horrible American cheese that we all loved in the ‘50s and ‘60s. And, you know, a feast. And then, oh, of course, we picked horses for the Kentucky Derby. So we had a hat, what is it called? You know, where you pay, put in two dollars and you got – picked a name to see who won the Kentucky Derby later. So the whole thing was just — it was wonderful. It was nice.”

In Pi’s teenage years, she became attuned to the cultural renaissance happening all around her in Greenwich Village. This was the time of the bohemians and beatniks when Bob Dylan was playing on MacDougal Street and Washington Square Park was full of artists, poets, and activists. Living in the very heart of the Village scene, Pi became a part of it herself. As she says: 

“And then there were things like on MacDougal Street — bead stores. Where beads were very – you know, it was Joan Baez. It was all of that. So, you know, you could go in and buy beads. And I got to know Peter, the owner, and because I was 12 or 13, I hung out. And he was a really nice guy, so he let me help. And so I’d sell beads and things like that. And then I ended up – because I had some beads. So I’d wear them to school and then started selling them to all my classmates. Because they loved my beads, because I was from Greenwich Village. I went to Chapin, which is on the Upper East Side and, you know, it was a different era. And I was the only one who lived in the Village and I was very exotic. But they bought all my beads.”

Upon graduation, Pi attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts and then made her way to San Francisco with her husband. Their stint in the Bay Area occurred in the midst of the hippie movement, just following the Summer of Love. In response to the recession of the ‘70s, Pi attended business school at Berkely, getting her MBA in Finance and Financial Management Services. Despite the couple enjoying their time on the West Coast, the pull back to New York was too strong. 

They returned to the city in 1975, purchasing an apartment on Park Avenue and 63rd Street. The couple had their daughter, and Pi began working for the firm Dun & Bradstreet part-time. Looking for more space for their family, the couple began looking in Pi’s family town of Quogue: 

“Well, and I love old houses, obviously, because of my great-great-grandparents house, here in Quogue. Oh, and in 1980, we had been staying — my husband and I had been staying with my aunt and uncle who had the house because my father was dead. Here in Quogue. And we decided it was time to get our own house. So we decided to move a house, because my family owned a bunch of land. And so, we went all over the East, South and North Fork. And I wanted an 18th-century house because of the house I grew up in. And in Quogue, there were only like seven, and rudely, people were living in them. Which made it — well, I couldn’t kill them, you know? And so, we went around with a broker, and we’re driving on the North Fork in Cutchogue on Route 25 and we pass a house. And I say, ‘That’s the house I want!’ And miracle of miracles, it was for sale.”

While working at Dun & Bradstreet, a co-worker mentioned the Merchants House Museum to Pi, knowing her interest in historical homes. So Pi went downtown to see what it was about. Once Pi stepped foot into the 1832 rowhouse, there was no turning back:

“I went to the Merchant’s House and, you know, there’s only one way to describe it, I fell in love. I walked in that house and just the double parlors and I said, ‘Okay, this is wonderful.’”

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog series, where we will discuss Pi Gardiner’s over 30 years (and counting) at the Merchant’s House Museum.

Village Preservation maintains nearly 70 oral histories with figures including Jane Jacobs, Penny Arcade, Wolf Kahn, Jonas Mekas, Marlis Momber, Edwin Fancher, Margot Gayle, David Amram, Matt Umanov, Merce Cunningham, Joan Davidson, Richard Meier, Ralph Lee, Mimi Sheraton, John Guare, Calvin Trillin, and Chino Garcia.