Hugh Walker House

404 West 20th Street | Chelsea | built 1830

Open on the map3 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. 1830

    Hugh Walker builds a wood-frame house on leased Chelsea land

    Grocer Hugh Walker leased this lot from Clement Clarke Moore for $40 a year, agreeing to erect "a good and substantial house" within seven years. He built a two-and-a-half-story wood-frame house with a Flemish-bond brick front, now considered the oldest surviving house in Chelsea.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1917

    Painter Ann Brockman moves into the house with her husband

    Artist Ann Brockman and her husband, illustrator William C. McNulty, took up residence in the house in 1917. Brockman, a nationally recognized painter, lived there until her death on March 30, 1943.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 2016

    An owner's gut-renovation plan sparks a preservation fight

    Owner Ajoy Veer Kapoor sought Landmarks Preservation Commission approval in 2016 to expand the house into its backyard and basement and nearly double its floor area for a two-unit condo conversion. Manhattan Community Board 4's chair said the plan would "demolish the entire house except for its brick street facade," but the commission approved the permits and the house has sat vacant since.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 72 buildings with stories in Chelsea