50 West 13th Street: Ironwork Lost, and Found?

50 West 13th Street, a rare surviving example of the Greek Revival style in the northern end of Greenwich Village, is deserving of recognition and protection as a New York City individual landmark for many reasons, both architectural and cultural.

From 1858 to 1884, the building was the residence of Jacob Day, one of 19th century New York’s wealthiest and most successful African American businessmen and real estate owners, crusader for African American civil rights, and a prominent supporter of African American institutions. As we’ve previously discussed, in addition to running a successful catering company out of his building, Day regularly rented rooms to Black community members who were connected to the causes he believed in. One such boarder was Sarah Smith Tompkins Garnet, a prominent leader in the movements for abolition, women’s suffrage, and advances in education, who lived in the building for close to a decade during a pivotal period of her career.

Nearly a century later, in 1972, No. 50 West 13th Street became home of the 13th Street Repertory Company, one of New York’s oldest “Off-Off Broadway” theaters. The company, and several other performance groups that occupied the space before it, hosted decades of prominent actors, directors, artists, designers, and playwrights, as well as Off-Off Broadway’s longest-running show ever, “Line.”

The architectural features of the building display these layers of history to this day. Built in the Greek Revival style in c. 1846-47, its primary facade includes many of the details one would expect of the age and style: a three-story-plus-basement brick facade, with a brownstone stoop, elongated parlor level windows, stone window sills and lintels, and a dentilated cornice at the roofline.

Jacob Day moved into the house just a decade after its construction, and he more than likely kept the majority of its original structure and features. As the owner of a catering company, it is also plausible that he made some minor changes to facilitate his business, such as the widened door opening still present at the basement level.

A sidewalk canopy and signage were added in the 20th century, when the building became a theater, and interior renovations took place to accommodate this new use. The theater signage was removed following the venue’s closure, and the owners seemed to be working quickly to strip the facade of as much of its details as possible prior to the building being calendared (formally scheduled) for landmark designation.

It is shocking to see the rapid deterioration that occurred at the building since we first proposed it for landmark designation in 2020, but most disturbing of all was the very recent removal of the highly decorative ironwork door surround. This special iron feature was certainly historic, if not original to the building.

As seen in the above 1940s tax photograph, the elaborately detailed ironwork door surround was at least 85 years old, which means it was intact and in place for the entirety of the building’s 20th-century period of significance, when it was a prominent theater. There is also substantial evidence indicating that the ironwork actually dates back to the 19th century, when the building was home to Jacob Day and Sarah J. S. Tompkins Garnet, and that it is likely original to the house.

Though we don’t have documentation proving the exact installation date of the ironwork at 50 West 13th Street, several other extant examples of Greek Revival homes in New York City, constructed around the same time as No. 50, feature similarly elaborate ironwork at their main entrances.

Nos. 130-132 MacDougal Street, located within the South Village Historic District, for example, are a pair of Greek Revival style red brick row houses built in 1852, connected by a shared stoop and “elaborate metal portico,” according to the LPC South Village Designation Report.

The designation report goes on to note that the stoop and porches are original to the buildings. Note how the foliated brackets, in particular, are identical in design to the ones that were recently removed at 50 West 13th Street:

Another example can be found at 3 and 4 Gramercy Park West, within the Gramercy Park Historic District. The designation report specifically calls out the significance of the cast iron porches at these two mid-1840s buildings, stating: “Of special note are the cast iron porches at Numbers 3 and 4. Their opulent Greek Revival design is attributed to the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, and they add a memorable elegance and gaiety to the simple facades.”

There are several other examples of mid-nineteenth-century Greek Revival style row houses that feature such iron verandas throughout New York City, including in Brooklyn and around East 20th Street in Manhattan.

This isn’t the first time intricate, ornamental ironwork has been lost in our neighborhoods. Among the most dramatic examples was Rhinelander Gardens, a row of houses designed by famed architect James Renwick, Jr. Constructed in 1855, the buildings stood proudly along West 11th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues for just over 100 years; they were razed in the late 1950s (mere years before the establishment of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which could have saved the buildings) to make way for the P.S. 41 school building.

Famed photographer Berenice Abbott captured the above image of Rhinelander Gardens in 1937, just twenty years before its demolition.

The following photographs show what little now remains of the historic ironwork at 50 West 13th Street, including a section of ironwork at the stoop landing, consistent with the adjacent historic fabric that was recently removed at the door surround; and areaway fencing, the details of which are similar to other examples found throughout Greenwich Village and other historic districts, and which matches the areaway ironwork that can be seen in this building’s 1940s tax photographs.

We don’t know whether the ironwork door surround was destroyed, or is being stored somewhere. The owners now have the chance to do the right thing, and restore these ironwork details along with pursuing other restorative measures to bring the building back to a more vibrant condition. Visit our campaign page to stay up-to-date on the landmark designation process for 50 West 13th Street.