34 Leroy Street

West Village | built 1845

Open on the map5 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. 1845

    Master mason William Huyler builds a Greek Revival house at 34 Leroy Street as an investment

    William Huyler, a master mason, built No. 34 Leroy Street in 1845 as a Greek Revival row house. He sold it two years later to James D. Sherwood, a broker from Putnam County who commuted from Peekskill. Sherwood built or bought three other nearby properties and owned all four until his death in 1907. A stepped parapet replaced the cornice around the 1930s.

    “No. 34 Leroy Street was constructed in 1845 by master mason William Huyler. In 1847 Huyler sold the house to James Sherwood…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1847

    Former city inspector William G. Babb works as a daguerreotypist at 34 Leroy Street

    William G. Babb, a former city street inspector, rented 34 Leroy Street from James Sherwood. He appears in directories as a daguerreian in 1847, a few years after the photographic process reached America. He seems to have run his portrait studio from the house, since no separate business address is listed until 1849, when he moved to 51 Leroy Street.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1912

    A double wedding at 34 Leroy Street ends in two separation suits

    Gregorio Catalano, who lived at 34 Leroy Street, and his friend Dr. Gaetano Sammarelli married their respective sweethearts in a double ceremony on July 27, 1911. Within a year both couples were in court. Sammarelli sued for annulment in May 1912, and in August the two wives hired the same lawyer to seek separations for cruelty and desertion. Emma Catalano said her husband threatened to burn the house unless she left.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1949

    Sculptor David Hare, a New York School artist, buys 34 Leroy Street

    David Hare, a 32-year-old photographer, artist and sculptor, bought 34 Leroy Street in 1949. He was recognized as a force in what became the New York School. In 1957 he hired architect Lowell Brody to add a sculpture studio behind the house, and the Guggenheim Museum later showed a ten-year survey of his work in 1977.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1995

    Architect Morgan Hare and Marc Turckel found the Leroy Street Studio in the house

    After sculptor David Hare moved away, his son, architect Morgan Browne Hare, lived at 34 Leroy Street. In 1995 he and partner Marc Turckel founded the architecture firm Leroy Street Studio inside the building. Shawn Watts joined in 1997 and became a partner in 2005.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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