A Few Favorite Federal Houses

When March comes around, we often find ourselves thinking about one of the oldest types of buildings in our neighborhoods, and indeed, in all of New York City: the Federal style row house. This is because on March 4, 1789, the United States Congress met for the first time at Federal Hall on Wall Street, which not only officially launched our nation’s governmental process, but can be considered the starting point of a new architectural style. Though the derivation of the Federal style is credited to British architect Robert Adams, it quickly gained popularity in the U.S. and took on a form that was uniquely American.

The Federal era of architecture, which lasted from approximately 1790 to 1835, placed great emphasis on symmetry and simplicity. The houses are characterized by a modest scale of two to three stories, often with peaked roofs that sometimes include dormers, and low stoops with wood entrance doors. They feature brick, typically laid in a Flemish-bond pattern, with simple architectural ornamentation, such as window sills and cornices, that are composed of stone and inspired by Classical architecture.

Village Preservation has been a champion for the preservation of Federal style houses for decades. In October, 1997, Village Preservation (then known as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation) first received funding from Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of NY State and the NY State Council on the Arts, to research and document the remaining Federal style houses in Lower Manhattan. Since then, we’ve succeeded in advocating for and preserving more than a hundred of these special buildings via individual landmark designations and inclusion in new historic districts and historic district extensions. You can learn more about these efforts in our report, Twenty Years of Preserving Federal-Era Rowhouses.

Thanks to our preservation efforts, quite a few Federal houses can still be found scattered throughout the Village. Here are just a handful of our favorites:

57 Sullivan Street

Built c. 1816-17, No. 57 Sullivan Street is one of the oldest surviving houses in Lower Manhattan and it is believed to be the oldest house in the South Village. It maintains many of its significant Federal style features, including its front stoop, brick-clad front façade laid in Flemish bond, and incised brownstone window lintels and entry arch.

You can learn more about the fascinating history of this house, and Village Preservation’s successful fight to preserve it, here.

131 Charles Street

Constructed in 1834, No. 131 Charles Street is one of New York City’s most intact examples of a modest Federal style house, and was one of our city’s very first individually designated landmarks in 1966. In 2006, Village Preservation got the house doubly landmarked, along with dozens of surrounding buildings, as part of the Far West Village extension of the Greenwich Village Historic District.

There is a lovely description of the house’s intact original doorway in the 1966 designation report: “The decorative doorway is the one note of richness in this simple builder’s house. A low stoop with wrought-iron railings leads gracefully up to a handsome Federal style doorway with an eight-panelled door, slightly recessed behind two slender wood columns. The wood entablature above the door is surmounted by a rectangular leaded light, framed in handsome carved moldings.”

Like most nearly 200-year-old houses, this one has hosted many occupants. Notably, the rear house at 131½ Charles Street, which was added at the turn of the century, was home to groundbreaking photographer Diane Arbus from 1959 to 1968.

After a two-year push by a new owner to significantly alter this highly intact and rare home, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finally approved the latest iteration of the proposal at a Public Hearing in March 2024. The good news is that, thanks to Village Preservation’s strong advocacy efforts, the scope was greatly reduced, and much more of the historic fabric of the house will be retained as a result.

651-655 Washington Street

This row of three extant c. 1829 Federal houses were once among the numerous homes constructed during the Far West Village’s transformation in the late 1820s from a largely rural outpost north of a small city to a thriving commercial, industrial, maritime, and residential neighborhood at the center of the busiest working waterfront in the world.

Originally owned by Samuel and Frances Norseworthy, these three-and-a-half story red brick row houses each historically featured pairs of dormers at their roofs – while the dormers at 651 and 655 remain extant, No. 653 has a larger studio dormer that was likely installed c. 1940. All three buildings feature store space with ground floor entrances in lieu of traditional stoops, a nod to the mixed-use development of this area of the Village. Like 131 Charles Street, 651-655 Washington Street are included in the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension I.

29 East 4th Street: The Merchant’s House Museum

With a construction date of 1831-32, No. 29 East 4th Street is a transitional Federal style house with Greek Revival elements. The Merchant’s House Museum, known formerly as the Seabury Tredwell House or the Old Merchant’s House, is the only 19th-century family home in New York City preserved intact — both inside and out. Among its spectacular interior features are the original 1832 ornate ornamental plasterwork (considered the finest surviving from the period) as well as the plaster walls and ceilings.

Both an individual and interior landmark, Merchant’s House is also located within the NoHo Historic District Extension, which Village Preservation succeeded in gaining landmark designation for in 2008.

New construction next door may threaten the integrity of this treasured historic landmark. Click here to learn more about our ongoing campaign to protect the Merchant’s House.