291 West 12th Street

West Village | built 1848

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.

1848
Mason Abel Harker has a four-story house built here, probably by two Huyler masons
According to the Landmarks Preservation Commission's 1969 report, the house was erected in 1848 for Abel Harker, a mason. Harker bought the land in 1847 but quickly sold it to masons John Huyler Jr. and William Huyler, who were also working on an adjoining Eighth Avenue property at the time and were probably the builders. The house mixes Greek Revival and Italianate features, including a dentiled cornice and Italianate cast-iron railings.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
2025
June
The ivy-covered side wall of No. 291 helps form a hidden courtyard called Grenville Court
Ephemeral New York reported in June 2025 that an iron gate to the triangular courtyard at No. 291 1/2 stood open. Four buildings from the 1840s form it, including the long ivy-covered wall of No. 291, and two red doors at its point appear to be back doors for buildings on Eighth Avenue. The courtyard has a name, Grenville Court, that appears on no map.
Source: Ephemeral New York

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