Hotel Griffou (No. 19)

19 West 9th Street | also 23 West 9th Street | Greenwich Village | built 1870

Open on the map5 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1855

    Three arched-window rowhouses go up at 55-59 Ninth Street, likely designed by James Renwick Jr.

    Three four-story rowhouses were finished in 1855 at 55 to 59 Ninth Street, renumbered 19 to 23 West 9th in 1868. They were assessed to Samuel T. Hubbard and are widely thought to be the work of James Renwick Jr. Rusticated ground floors had fully arched windows and doors, a single iron-railed balcony fronted the second floor, and the trio shared one bracketed cornice.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1863

    Architect James Renwick Jr. moves into 55 Ninth Street, now No. 19, for five years

    In 1863 James Renwick Jr., whom historians often credit with designing the row, took up residence at 55 Ninth Street, after living across the street at No. 56, and stayed through 1868. The Parmly family, whose dental practice J. & D. R. Parmly operated from the house until 1874, took over the house after he left.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1879

    Marie Griffou buys No. 19 and opens a boarding house, the start of the Hotel Griffou

    In 1879 Marie Griffou bought 19 West 9th Street and ran it as an exclusive boarding house; by 1884 she had spread into No. 21, and the joined houses were known as the Hotel Griffou. A wine salesman, Jean Tabarie, shot himself in a second-floor bedroom there in January 1880, and the New York Times blamed drink. He died at St. Vincent's Hospital after leaving a note about his belongings.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1909

    Muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell lives here for a decade, in the renamed Hotel Europe

    After the Griffou family lost the hotel, new owner Oreste Giolito renamed it the Hotel Europe. From 1909 to 1919 the journalist Ida Tarbell lived there. Born in 1857, she is best remembered for her 1904 History of the Standard Oil Company, which helped break the oil monopoly. The city's 1969 Greenwich Village report also places her at No. 19 across the same years.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1958

    January 30

    Penguin restaurant owner Nat Simons buys all three houses, which hold 21 small apartments

    The New York Times reported on January 30, 1958 that Nat Simons, owner of the Penguin Restaurant at 19 and 21 West 9th Street, had bought all three houses of the row. The buildings held twenty-one small apartments. The Penguin gave way by 1985 to Marylou's, a favorite of Jack Nicholson according to the Times in 1997.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village