21 Washington Square North

also 21A Washington Square North | Greenwich Village | built 1900

Open on the map5 entries

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

1. 1836

   Attorney Edmund Wilkes completes a row of three Greek Revival houses

   Edmund Wilkes, an attorney whose own home is on lower Broadway, has Nos. 21 through 23 Washington Square North built between 1835 and 1836. The houses are laid up in Flemish-bond brick, unusual for the period, and share a continuous cornice. Each has a high stoop and a portico of free-standing Ionic columns.

   Source: media.villagepreservation.org

2. 1919

   June

   Actors E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe buy the Washington Square house

   In June 1919 the stage actors E. H. Sothern and his wife, Julia Marlowe, buy 21 Washington Square North through the brokers Pepe & Brother. The two had acted opposite each other before they married, though the newspapers pay more attention to Marlowe. Their stay is short: in April 1920 the New-York Tribune reports that the house is to be converted into duplex studio apartments.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1920

   April 23

   Restaurateur Placido Mori buys the house from the Sotherns

   The New York Herald reports on April 23, 1920 that Placido Mori has bought the house at 21 Washington Square North from Mrs. E. H. Sothern. Mori has run the well-known Mori's restaurant on Bleecker Street since 1883. He moves into the house and keeps the restaurant going.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1938

   Spanish artist Luis Quintanilla is a house guest at No. 21

   War correspondent Jay Allen, who lives in the house by 1938, hosts Luis Quintanilla, a Spanish artist ranked among the country's foremost. Quintanilla had given up painting to fight with the Loyalist forces. He arrives with 60 sketches of prison life, made during seven months in jail after the October 1934 revolt in Spain.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

5. 1997

   The house plays Dr. Sloper's home in the film Washington Square

   In the 1997 film Washington Square, filmmakers use 21 Washington Square North for the residence of Albert Finney's character Dr. Sloper. The mansion had been converted to seven apartments in 1942 while its historic facade was preserved.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The James L. Graham House -- 21 Washington Square NorthDaytonian in Manhattan
• Then & Now photos: 21 Washington Square NorthVillage Preservation: Greenwich Village Then & Now

Nearby

• 21 Washington Square North1 entry
• Senior Center on the Square20 Washington Square North | 3 entries
• 16 MacDougal Alley2 entries
• Louis Philip Siebert House25 Washington Square North | 4 entries
• Original Whitney Museum of Art8 West 8th Street | 5 entries
• 2 Fifth Avenue2 5th Avenue | 5 entries

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village