The Little Half House

35 West 12th Street | Greenwich Village | built 1840

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.

1893
Developers demolish half of No. 35 to build the Ardea next door
No. 35 West 12th Street was built in 1840 as a roomy 25-foot-wide brick house blending Federal and Greek Revival styles, and a mansard roof added a full third floor in 1868. In 1893, the neighboring houses to the east were razed for a huge apartment building, and its developers bought half of No. 35's lot to make room. Half the house was torn down and the rest was renovated to fit the smaller footprint, leaving the storybook sliver seen today.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
1933
January 15
Met soprano Minnie Egener dies in the narrow half-house
Minnie Egener, a lyric soprano at the Metropolitan Opera, died in the house at 35 West 12th Street on January 15, 1933. She had lived there in the 1930s with her husband, Louis Hasselmans, the Met's French opera conductor, and their daughter Geraldine. Later, a modern apartment building went up on the west side, leaving the little house squeezed between two large neighbors, and it is still a private home.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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