314 State Street
Boerum Hill | built 1848
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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.
- 1833
Developers Charles Hoyt and Russell Nevins buy the former Van Brunt farmland of 314 State Street
The land under 314 State Street began as part of Jacob Van Brunt's farm, which he left to his daughter Jane, wife of Samuel T. Gerritsen, in 1824. In 1833 two Manhattan real estate developers, Charles Hoyt and Russell Nevins, bought the properties on this block. State Street itself was first called Gerritsen Street.
“All the land in this block had originally been part of the Jacob Van Brunt farm. He willed it to his daughter Jane, wife of Samuel T. Gerritsen, in 1824.”
- 1847
Liquor merchants John and Diederick Westfall have a row of four State Street houses built, with No. 314 among them
In September 1847 the brothers John and Diederick Westfall, who dealt in liquor, acquired the lots for 310 through 316 State Street and commissioned a row of Greek Revival houses on them. By the following year both brothers were living in newly built houses on the lots. No. 314 is one of the four, finished in 1847-48.
“The Westfalls, who were liquor merchants, acquired the lots for 310-316 in September 1847, and they commissioned the construction of the row.”
- 1847
314 State Street shows a Greek Revival brick front with a doorway carrying later neo-Grec carving
The three-story painted brick house stands over a stuccoed basement with two windows behind ornamental iron grilles. Its high-stoop entrance is the strongest Greek Revival feature, with Doric-type pilasters and a low pediment, but the pilasters bear incised grooves and carved starbursts and the entablature has a central rosette, details of the later neo-Grec period.
“The bold entranceway, above a high stoop, is the most impressive Greek Revival element of the front.”
- 1970
Twenty-six witnesses back landmarking 314 State Street and a Boerum Hill Historic District
On June 23, 1970 the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on designating the 314 State Street House as a landmark (Item No. 74). Twenty-six witnesses spoke in favor of preserving the Boerum Hill neighborhood and of creating a Boerum Hill Historic District, and nobody spoke against designating the State Street houses.
“Twenty-six witnesses spoke in favor of historic preservation in the Boerum Hill neighborhood and for the creation of the Boerum Hill Historic District.”
- 1973
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the 314 State Street House a New York City landmark
The Commission designated the house a landmark on November 20, 1973, together with its lot (Brooklyn tax block 176, lot 17). It called the building a fine example of Greek Revival architecture modified by later ornament, part of a handsome group of four houses that add to the character of Boerum Hill.
Nearby
- 312 State Street2 entries
- 316 State Street3 entries
- 318 State Street3 entries
- 310 State Street2 entries
- 320 State Street3 entries
- 308 State Street2 entries