In 1736 the second generation owner of Wyck built a new stone dwelling right on Germantown Avenue. It had a hall and a parlor on the first floor and several rooms upstairs. William Strickland's alterations in 1824 utterly changed the space. He moved walls, cupboards and fireplaces, and removed three windows that once faced the street. The architect also installed innovative, pivoting "folding doors" that introduced remarkable spatial flexibility on the first floor.

The 1824 changes helped muffle street noise and opened cross-ventilation and lovely views of the gardens and grounds. Reuben and Jane moved their finest pieces into this room which they now used for formal entertaining. This tradition-best room, best furniture, best company-continued through the family's residence until 1973. The parlor retains this spirit. The accumulation of furnishings reflects the "best" of each generation who lived here, from the early 18th-century Queen Anne chairs, to the Duncan Phyfe sofa and 19th-century Chinese lacquer desk, to the modern portraits of Wyck's last owners, Robert and Mary Haines. .