Marietta Zanfretta House

22 Charlton Street | Hudson Square | built 1826

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. 1826

    George Paulding builds three matching brick houses at 20 to 24 Charlton Street

    Builder George Paulding put up the row in 1826. Each house is just under 19 feet wide and two and a half stories tall. Where better homes on the block had columned doorways and leaded sidelights, these had plain pilasters and transoms. No. 22 appears to have been rented at first, and in 1827 two families shared it.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1880

    Circus tightrope performer Marietta Zanfretta settles in the house as its owner

    Born in 1832 and raised in a circus family, Marietta Zanfretta became a favorite tightrope walker, and with her husband Francois Siegrist organized the Zanfretta Troupe. By about 1880 she lived at 22 Charlton Street, which she owned, with her brother Alexander and her daughter Blanche, a stage performer. She died on February 8, 1898, and on March 20 The World called her the head of a very large family of dancers, pantomimists and acrobats.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1899

    January 9

    Continental League secretary James Drury lives in the house as his group opposes keeping the Philippines

    Soon after Marietta Zanfretta's death, the house became home to James Drury, secretary of the Continental League. The Evening Post reported on January 9, 1899 that the league met to oppose keeping the Philippine Islands and forming entangling alliances with European powers. The group opposed American expansion beyond North America.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1919

    August

    William Sloane Coffin buys the house in 1919 and raises its attic to a full floor

    In August 1919 William Sloane Coffin and his wife Katherine bought 14 old houses in the neighborhood, including this one. They raised the attic to a full story with paired casement windows. In November 1921 the Coffins sold the house, by then remodeled.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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All 79 buildings with stories in Hudson Square