215 West 11th Street
also 239A Waverly Place, 239 Waverly Place, 213 West 11th Street | West Village | built 1920
Open on the map6 entries
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1832
Joseph Low builds a Federal-style house on the corner, later joined by two neighbors
In 1832 the carpenter Joseph Low builds a Federal-style house at 15 Hammond Street, on the northeast corner of what became Waverly Place; the street is renamed West 11th in 1864, making it 215. Ten years later he builds two abutting houses beside it, and the Lows move into the middle one. A grocery with an entrance on Waverly Place operates in the rear of the corner house, first under William H. Scofield and from 1857 under the Laurits family.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1846
Burglars rob a rear house while its family watches the Sons of Temperance parade
On June 9, 1846, during the parade opening the Sons of Temperance's Grand National Jubilee, the family in the small house behind 13 Hammond Street, now 213 West 11th, goes out to watch and locks up. The Evening Post reports that burglars break in and steal a gold watch, a diamond breast pin, jewelry and money worth $300 to $400, more than $14,500 in $2022.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1920
Four gunmen rob a laundry at 215 West 11th Street
By 1920 the former grocery space at 215 West 11th Street holds a Chinese laundry. On November 2 four gunmen walk in and order the two men working there, Sing Lee and Ching Chum, to raise their hands. One covers them with revolvers while the others empty the cash register of $100, and all four escape, according to the New-York Tribune.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1921
Two old houses are joined for the Noyes School of Rhythm
In 1921 the corner house and its neighbor are combined into one building. The ground floor becomes the Noyes School of Rhythm, founded by Florence Fleming Noyes in 1912 and by then with branches in Boston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Minneapolis and Schenectady, and the upper floors become rented rooms. The stoops are removed, the brick is stuccoed, and a pseudo portico marks the new entrance at 215.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1936
North Baptist Church buys the combined houses for its new home
In November 1936 the North Baptist congregation sells its building a block away, where it had been for about four decades, and buys 213-215 West 11th Street. The combined houses are altered to hold the church auditorium in the basement and offices on the first floor, with three apartments on each of the upper two floors, one of them reserved for the minister. In 1962 The New York Times reports the property sold to an investor, with the church dissolved.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1963
Owners give the building a "medieval" makeover with rough stucco and casement windows
In 1963-64 Brownstone Renovations, Inc. converts the combined building into offices with apartments upstairs for owners Dolores and Robert Welber. The landmark report says only the original town houses' proportions and the spacing of their upper windows survive the work; the rest is new, with casement windows, rough stucco over the brick, and a parapet and railing added at the top.
“…when it was converted into "medieval" offices and dwelling units above by Brownstone Renovations, Inc., for Dolores and Robert Welber…”
Further reading
- Changed and Rechanged - 213-215 West 11th Street Daytonian in Manhattan
- Then & Now photos: 213-215 West 11th Street (aka 239 Waverly Place)Village Preservation: Greenwich Village Then & Now
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- 241 Waverly Place4 entries
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- 186 7th Avenue South1 entry