Isabella Merritt Hawley House

48 West 11th Street | Greenwich Village | built 1841

Open on the map5 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1841

   Andrew Lockwood, Erastus Freeman and James Harriot build a row of Greek Revival houses on West 11th Street

   Nos. 46-54 form a row of five Greek Revival houses completed in 1841 by the builder Andrew Lockwood with the carpenter Erastus Freeman and the mason James Harriot. The row kept its low third floor and dentiled cornice, and much of its original ironwork, especially in the areaway railings. Studio skylights were added above the cornices of Nos. 48 and 50.

   “This row of five Greek Revival brick houses was built by Andrew Lockwood, Erastus Freeman, and James Harriot in 1841…”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1882

   Oscar Wilde takes rooms at 48 West 11th Street during his American lecture tour and invites his valet to dine

   Oscar Wilde reached New York in 1882 on a lecture tour promoting Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, and after moving around for about two and a half months he took rooms in Georgiana Beers's boarding house at 48 West 11th Street. His valet, William Traquair, was apparently not allowed to lodge there, but Wilde sent him a note inviting him to dinner at 6:30, evidently in his own rooms.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1889

   July 28

   A servant spots a burglar hiding behind the coal bin and quietly fetches the police

   Going to the cellar for coal on the morning of July 28, a servant of the Hawley family found a man crouched behind the coal bin. She pretended not to notice, went back upstairs and told Alan Hawley, who found a policeman. The man, Benjamin Myers, was carrying pawn tickets for clothing, opera glasses and jewelry, and a ring of about twenty keys.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1901

   May 14

   A woman is arrested for sending scandalous letters to Dr. Nelson H. Henry, newly married and living at No. 48

   Dr. Nelson H. Henry, a state National Guard surgeon, married Sarah Rodgers Sloane in April 1901 and planned to live at 48 West 11th Street. Soon after, Martha Reisse was arrested after he took letters she had written him to a Jefferson Market magistrate. The magistrate would not disclose the contents, calling them unfit for publication, and Henry said he barely knew her.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

5. 1908

   March

   Jennie Hawley elopes to Europe with a French balloonist, and her brothers sue her over money

   After the death of Isabella Hawley in 1904, her children inherited the house and squabbled over it in court. In March 1908 daughter Jennie ran off to Europe with the French balloonist Charles Levee. When the couple returned in May, her brothers sued her over sums advanced before her marriage. The Hawleys' legal conflicts ended in 1910, when the property was sold and bought by Philip and Helen Hiss.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The Isabella Merritt Hawley House - 48 West 11th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• John W. T. Nichols House42 West 11th Street | 4 entries
• 54 West 11th Street4 entries
• Julien Tappan Davies House38 West 11th Street | 3 entries
• Samuel Cooke House60 West 11th Street | 5 entries
• 35 West 10th Street3 entries
• Peter O. Grilliet House39 West 10th Street | 3 entries

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village