This is the second part of our series on Margaret “Pi” Gardiner. Click here to read Part 1. Our new oral history explores 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 […]
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 […]
New Yorkers are practical, busy, and no-nonsense people. The scariest thing for most is missing that subway connection when trying to get to an important meeting on time. We simply don’t have time for ghosts and spirits. But they seem to have time for us, especially in New York’s spookiest neighborhood. Greenwich Village is no stranger […]
For many, celebrating Irish American heritage in March brings one to Fifth Avenue for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, or perhaps a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. But for those willing to venture beyond Midtown, there’s a rich Irish American history to be found in Greenwich Village and the East Village. While both neighborhoods […]
Ada Louise Huxtable (March 14, 1921 – January 7, 2013) was arguably the most formidable critical voice regarding architecture of the second half of the 20th century. Huxtable, who became the New York Times’ first full-time architecture critic in 1963, had the uncanny ability and excellent foresight to analyze architecture in a manner that highlighted the […]
The Merchant’s House Museum at 29 East Fourth Street offers a most comprehensive view into what life might have been like for the wealthy merchant class in New York City during the 19th-century. While the house and its history date to 1832, its life as a museum began more than a century later in 1936 […]
Despite all the challenges of the year, Village Preservation proudly hosted 76 programs (most of which were virtual), reaching over 9,000 people in 2020. How does one choose favorites? It’s nearly impossible, especially given that each program represents, at minimum, someone’s research, passion, skill, life’s work, book, or all of the above. So, in wrap-up […]
For many, celebrating Irish American heritage in March brings one to Fifth Avenue for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, or perhaps a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. But for those willing to venture beyond Midtown, there’s a rich Irish American history to be found in Greenwich Village and the East Village. While both neighborhoods […]
The Village has a long history of putting on the best Halloween festivities. From the world-renowned NYC Village Halloween Parade to local specials at our many small business establishments, there is always something to do here to celebrate this spooky time of the year. Village Preservation has you covered on the top things to do […]
Each year, Village Preservation hosts more than sixty public programs. They cover our neighborhoods from the western edge of Greenwich Village to the easternmost reaches of the East Village. Topics cover a diverse range of areas including rock and roll, restoring artists’ studios, terracotta mosaics in the subways, street photography, women’s poetry, and so much […]
The Village is known as one of the oldest parts of New York City, where historic architecture can be found everywhere, and charming houses from a bygone era still stand. Here at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, a perennial question we’re asked is “which is the oldest house in the Village?” It’s a […]
The following is a re-posting of a post by Elizabeth Finkelstein from 2011: Call it whatever you’d like: antique, vintage, or historic. If one thing is for certain, the Village is really, really old. Old by New York City standards, and even old by American standards. But which building is the oldest of the old? 121 Charles Street […]
On this day in 1970, the Landmarks Preservation Commission granted landmark status to the dignified Greek Revival house at 37 East 4th Street. This three and a half story house was built in 1844-45 by Samuel Tredwell Skidmore, a relative of Seabury Tredwell, who lived with his family only a few doors away at 29 East 4thStreet, […]
The following is a re-posting of a post by Elizabeth Finkelstein from 2011: Call it whatever you’d like: antique, vintage, or historic. If one thing is for certain, the Village is really, really old. Old by New York City standards, and even old by American standards. But which building is the oldest of the old? 121 Charles […]
2016 marked the 80th year in the Merchant’s House Museum’s history. While the museum is also a NYC landmark, did you know it’s also one of the few landmarks to have both exterior and interior designation?
GVSHP has now made available on our website a classic preservation and architectural history resource — the booklet Nineteenth Century Dwelling Houses of Greenwich Village produced by the Association of Village Homeowners in 1968 and reprinted in 1969. You can view it here. The Association of Village Homeowners was a community group founded in 1960 in response […]
On September 21, 1965, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held its very first public hearing. Twenty-eight buildings were on the agenda, including five in Brooklyn, fifteen in Manhattan, one in the Bronx, and seven in Staten Island. Eight of the properties are located in GVSHP’s catchment area between Houston and 14th Street. We have written extensively about […]
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Merchant’s House Museum. The museum is the only historic house museum in the Greenwich Village/Soho/NoHo neighborhoods, and is considered one of the finest surviving examples of domestic architecture from the period, the late-Federal and Greek Revival styles (the house dates to 1832). On Wednesday, September 21st, […]
On May 11, 1936, the old Tredwell house on 4th Street opened as the Merchant’s House Museum.
GVSHP is excited to share our oral history collection with the public, and hope they will shed more light on what makes Greenwich Village and the East Village such unique and vibrant areas. Each of these histories highlights the experiences and insights of long-time residents, usually active in the arts, culture, preservation, business, or civic life […]
As 2015 comes to a close and 2016 approaches, here is a look back at GVSHP’s public programs for 2015. In all, we produced or co-sponsored 60 programs that drew almost 5,000 attendees. Our programs consisted of slideshows, lectures, book talks, panel discussions, interviews, museum visits, walking tours, and other formats. We chose different venues […]
All this year we have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York City landmarks law, and today we focus on one of the very first buildings to be granted landmark designation. At the first meeting of the new Landmarks Preservation Commission, on September 21,1965, the Old Merchant’s House – now known as the […]
As Halloween is right around the corner, we here at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation would like to satisfy your cravings for hauntings as you go out and wander the Village for candy. Preserving the Village not only means maintaining the old buildings and historic landscapes, but sometimes also the domiciles of the […]
Last night GVSHP held a public program co-sponsored by The Merchants House Museum; The Merchant’s House Museum – A Tale of Survival, a lecture and slideshow with Michael Devonshire. The Merchants House is one of only a handful of interior and exterior NYC landmarks, and is one of the first designated NYC landmarks. Michael Devonshire is a commissioner at the […]
On August 18, 1970, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated landmark status to the grand Greek Revival house at 37 East 4th Street. The house was built in 1844-45 by Samuel Tredwell Skidmore, a relative of Seabury Tredwell, who lived with his family a few doors away at 29 East 4th Street, known today as the […]
A lot can happen in 50 years, and many of us are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York City Landmarks Law. It was signed into law on April 19, 1965, by Mayor Robert Wagner after much work by early preservationists, motivated in part by the demolition of the original Penn Station. Since then, […]
December is chock full of holidays and no shortage of holiday tree lightings, carol singing events, and much more to help you celebrate the season. The trees are already up and alight in Tompkins Square Park and Abingdon Square Park, but there are plenty more activities across the Village for those looking to ring in […]
Last night, GVSHP presented a free public program with James & Michelle Nevius, authors of the new book, “Footprints in New York”. James & Michelle are historians and tour guides who offer historic walking tours of many different New York City neighborhoods, but last night’s program focused on people and places of Greenwich Village. At […]
We always love talking about the Merchant’s House here on Off the Grid (here’s some proof); how could you not be amazed by a house that was occupied by one family – the Tredwells – from 1835 (three years after it was built in 1832) to 1933? Original interior plasterwork, furniture, and the like give […]
The Village does Halloween like no other NYC community, featuring parades, festivals, and plenty of children’s activities, but what would you expect from the neighborhood that devised the original Halloween parade? So we thought we’d round up Halloween-related happenings taking place in the ‘hood.
Today, we’d like to extend a “Happy ‘Landmark’ Birthday” to the NoHo Historic District Extension, which the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated on May 13, 2008. As you can see in the above historic district map, the extension connects the NoHo Historic District and the NoHo East Historic District. For the most part, the 56 […]
While the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade wound its way up Fifth Avenue this weekend, the Village celebrated the holiday in a more low-key way.
Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will be hearing the new building application for 27 East 4th Street, the site next to the landmarked Merchant’s House Museum. If you can make it, the hearing time has been set for 3:45pm. Those planning to testify should plan to arrive early (by about 3:15) to get through […]
For a few months now, many of you have been following the proposal for a new nine-story hotel at 27 East 4th Street. The site, which currently holds a one-story garage, sits directly next to the Merchant’s House Museum, one of the few exterior and interior landmarks in the city. Because 27 East 4th Street […]
In an article from the October issue of O Magazine actress Katie Holmes declares, “I love Greenwich Village.”Back in 2009 it was widely speculated that Holmes and her husband Tom Cruise purchased a $15 million townhouse at 42 West 12th Street in the Greenwich Village Historic District.
As our program schedule attests, we here at GVSHP love a good renovation story. So we were delighted when our friends over at the Merchant’s House Museum sent us pictures of their de-plastered wall, part of a $598,000 structural restoration project the museum is currently working on. What’s even better than a restoration story? For […]
Call it whatever you’d like: antique, vintage, or historic. If one thing is for certain, the Village is really, really old. Old by New York City standards, and even old by American standards. But which building is the oldest of the old? Fortunately for us as we attempt to answer this question, the Village has […]
This week’s Spot the Shot is indeed – congratulations Stephanie! – the Merchant’s House Museum at 29 East 4th Street. The style of architecture is late Federal. Built in 1832, the museum is Manhattan’s only 19th Century family home preserved completely intact on both the interior and the exterior, and thus, according to museum’s website, […]
