299 East 139th Street

Mott Haven | built 1886

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.

1886
Carpenter Alan Ferguson builds a three-story brick house for Sarah M. Donohue
In 1886 Alan Ferguson, a carpenter, put up this three-story brick house for Sarah M. Donohue. It went up in the same years as the Arctander double house next door at 301-303, built in 1886-1888 by Arthur Arctander for Annie Arctander, but the report found the two in striking contrast.
“This three story brick house, built in 1886 by Alan Ferguson, a carpenter, for Sarah M. Donohue, is in striking contrast to its neighbor (Nos. 301-303).”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1969
July 29
Landmarks report calls No. 299 a plain townhouse version of the Queen Anne style
The 1969 designation report for the Mott Haven Historic District describes No. 299 as a Queen Anne design scaled down to the ordinary vernacular townhouse. Slender cast-iron balusters and heavy square newel posts give the stoop some interest, but the commission found the house chiefly notable for its simplicity, unlike the country-house look of its double-house neighbor.
“…it represents the adaptation of that style to the simple, vernacular townhouse. It uses detail, such as the slender cast iron balusters and heavy, square newel posts…”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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