21 West 11th Street

Greenwich Village | built 1834

Open on the map4 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. 1834

    Physician Charles M. Graham commissions a row of ten houses on West 11th Street

    Dr. Charles M. Graham has ten matching houses built on West Eleventh Street, Nos. 13 through 31, in a blend of the Federal and Greek Revival styles. Two and a half stories tall, with modest stone lintels and sills, they are meant for merchant-class families. No. 21's dormered attic is later raised to a full third floor, and a switch from Flemish to running bond in the brickwork marks the change.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1870

    After the Civil War, the house gets a French Second Empire makeover

    At some point after the Civil War, No. 21 is remodeled in the French Second Empire style. The plain flat openings give way to arched windows topped with ornate pressed lintels, set above bracketed sills, and a slate-tiled mansard roof adds a fourth floor. The Greek Revival doorway receives paneled pilasters and a very elaborate cornice.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1911

    April 12

    Boarder John Townsend Miller's arrest for pawning borrowed jewelry draws judicial scrutiny

    John Townsend Miller, a 22-year-old boarder at 21 West Eleventh Street, is arrested on April 12, 1911 for pawning jewelry women had lent him, including a gold watch and chain from fellow boarder Alice Johnson. Judge Rosalsky throws out the case, and after further charges it comes back to him and he suspends sentence. About two weeks later the Bar Association is investigating both judges involved.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1945

    Writers Herman and Nina Schneider host a circle of poets and painters

    Newlyweds Herman and Nina Schneider move into 21 West Eleventh Street in the 1940s and stay until 1980. Nina writes poetry in a writing room there, and the couple's dinners draw friends from the literary and art worlds. Guests include W. H. Auden, Philip Roth and Mark Rothko.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village