Vanderzee-Harper House
327 Westervelt Avenue | St. George | built 1887
Open on the map5 entries
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.
- 1887
Margaret A. Shields buys the lot and its new house from fur importer Charles A. Herpich
Charles A. Herpich, a Berlin-born Manhattan furrier who owned much of the land around Fort Hill, sold this lot to Margaret A. Shields in June 1887. The deed does not mention a house, but the $4,500 price suggests one already stood here; it is missing from an 1887 atlas, so Herpich probably had it built just before the sale.
“…the purchase price of $4500 indicates that it was likely present on the lot. Herpich probably had the house constructed shortly before the sale…”
- 1890
Margaret and Gordon Doane Vanderzee are living here when their son is born
By May 1890, when their son was born, Margaret Shields had married Gordon Doane Vanderzee, a Staten Island native who worked in the clothing business with his brothers, and the couple lived in the Westervelt Avenue house. They moved to Philadelphia around 1895 but kept the house as a rental until 1920.
“By the time of their son's birth in May of 1890, Margaret A. Shields and Gordon Doane Vanderzee were married and living in the Westervelt Avenue house.”
- 1910
Liquor importer Ignatius Newburg rents the house for his family of seven and a servant
With the Vanderzees in Philadelphia, the house went to tenants. The 1910 census lists Ignatius Newburg, an Austro-German liquor importer, living here with his wife, their five children (three boys and two girls) and a servant; his children were still in the house five years later. By 1920 Swedish immigrant Albert Johnson, his wife and three daughters shared it with a married couple of boarders and an Italian lodger.
“Ignatius Newburg, a liquor importer, lived there with his wife, three sons, two daughters and a servant in 1910.”
- 1920
Grocer and New Brighton trustee Thomas H. Harper buys the house for his family
Thomas H. Harper, born in Ireland in 1857, ran grocery stores in Stapleton and New Brighton and had served as a trustee of the Village of New Brighton and president of the local school board. After 36 years on nearby Hendricks Avenue, he bought this house in June 1920. After his death in 1922, his widow Ella stayed here until 1940, and the family sold the house and half its lot in 1946.
- 2009
The city designates the restored Queen Anne house with its three-story tower a landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission named the house a landmark on November 17, 2009, citing its corner tower, cantilevered gables, stained glass and shingle siding, a mix of Queen Anne and Shingle styles. Eleven people spoke in favor at the hearing, among them Councilmember Kenneth Mitchell and one of the owners, and no one spoke against it. The house had recently been restored.
“November 17, 2009, Designation List 423 ... a fine surviving example of a Queen Anne style residence with Shingle style details…”
Nearby
- August and Augusta Schoverling House344 Westervelt Avenue | 4 entries
- 411 Westervelt Avenue, Horton's Row411 Westervelt Avenue | 4 entries
- 413 Westervelt Avenue, Horton's Row413 Westervelt Avenue | 3 entries
- 415 Westervelt Avenue, Horton's Row415 Westervelt Avenue | 3 entries
- 417 Westervelt Avenue House, Horton's Row417 Westervelt Avenue | 4 entries
- Brighton Heights Reformed Church320 St Marks Place | 2 entries