Souvenirs, Art, And An Alcove Bed: Gloria Steinem's NYC Brownstone Was Like 'Another World'

Gloria Steinem was certainly a force of nature. The feminist icon somehow managed to have a home that, like her, was one of a kind. She lived in a New York City brownstone that she decorated over the course of decades. Activist and writer Dominique Browning was one of roughly 15 women who visited Steinem's home for a "climate talking circle" in February 2026. After Steinem's death, Browning called it "another world" and a "magical house" in an interview with People.

Steinem, a lifelong journalist and activist, had first moved into the brownstone with a roommate in 1968. She lived there for several decades before tapping interior designer to the stars Jane Hallworth to make it over for her. "There's something so utterly approachable about Gloria. But it's an approachable moment on Mount Olympus," Hallworth told Architectural Digest in 2024. More than 50 years after moving in, Steinem turned her Manhattan home into a tapestry of bright colors, prints, and whimsically complex clutter, which included refrigerator magnets modeled after famous women in history.

"Obviously I'm not a modern person — " Steinem joked to the outlet, noting, "There's a kind of antiseptic furniture look I would not love." Evidently, then, Hallworth was successful in helping turn Steinem's bold, eclectic, detail-heavy taste into a beautiful maximalist space. Hallworth did not, however, change Steinem's bedroom, instead saying, "No way! Gloria's bedroom is so punk rock. I wouldn't." Even with the help of a designer, it's clear that Steinem's taste demanded to be seen.

Throughout her decades living in her New York brownstone, Gloria Steinem opened her doors many times. The pioneering feminist wanted her home to be a place to host activist groups for discussions, and it also functioned as a time capsule. "You walked in and she had created an entire world of her ... history, every table was covered with mementos and souvenirs and pieces of art," Dominique Browning explained to People. "Even the bathroom was covered, the counters were covered, with mementos, little souvenirs from travel. She'd been all over the world," she noted.

It's clear that Steinem's home was a reflection of her life and who she was. It was full, creative, and thoughtfully packed with depth. The space looked more like a puzzle made up of pieces from moments in her life, rather than the execution of an aesthetic. Ultimately, that was the aesthetic. "She was very imaginative," Browning told People, adding, "She had brought in an old porch from a falling-down house down South and turned that into a little alcove bed, tucked into the side of the living room." Architectural Digest reported the porch was from Connecticut as opposed to the South, but either way, it makes Steinem's home all the more unique.

Steinem once said, "The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn" (via People). This seemed to apply to her interior design tendencies, too. Unlearning design rules left her with a space that was purely her own.