Israel Clark House

21 Vandam Street | Hudson Square | built 1828

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1827

   Mason Israel Clark finishes a house for himself on John Jacob Astor's Richmond Hill lots

   Clark broke ground in 1826 and completed the two-and-a-half story house the next year, on part of the old Richmond Hill estate that Trinity Church leased to John Jacob Astor I. Astor had prepaid the land rent to help sell his houses. The 22-foot-wide brick front is laid in Flemish bond with brownstone trim, and a small brick house in the rear yard was reached by a three-foot horsewalk beside No. 23.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1923

   The Trebbi brothers open the Italian restaurant Our Little Place in the house

   After William Sloane Coffin bought the house from Trinity Church in 1919, modernized it and sold it in 1922, the basement and parlor floors became an Italian restaurant, Our Little Place, in 1923. Brothers Bruno and Renato Trebbi ran it, and Bruno bought the building in 1925. By the Depression years it was renamed Renato 21, and Renato took over the property in 1935. Local lore calls it a speakeasy, but the Daytonian's research found no evidence of that.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1924

   Baritone Antonio Scotti hosts a dinner for Met conductor Gennaro Papi at Our Little Place

   The Musical Digest reported on March 11, 1924 that Antonio Scotti, the Italian baritone, had given a dinner in honor of Gennaro Papi, a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. The invitation named Our Little Place at 21 Vandam Street as the meeting spot and located it by its distance from the Houston Street subway station.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1941

   Renato's draws diners with Tony Sarg murals and a garden patio until the house is converted in 1974

   By 1941 the Evening Post described Renato Trebbi's two-story restaurant as having animal caricatures at the lower bar and two upstairs dining rooms with murals by Tony Sarg, plus Friday and Saturday piano music. In 1959 The Villager said the restaurant could host 250 guests at once, with walnut-paneled private dining rooms, and in 1972 Cue praised its rose-bordered summer patio. The house became one apartment per floor in 1974.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The 1827 Israel Clark House - 21 Vandam StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• Horace Whitehorn House23 Vandam Street | 4 entries
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• 25 Vandam Street1 entry
• William Delamano House17 Vandam Street | 4 entries
• Paul Taylor House27 Vandam Street | 4 entries
• SoHo Playhouse15 Vandam Street | 4 entries

All 79 buildings with stories in Hudson Square