Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House

58 West 10th Street | Greenwich Village | built 1836

Open on the map4 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. 1878

    D. Maitland Armstrong buys the property and Stanford White enlarges the house

    Around 1878 the artist D. Maitland Armstrong and his wife bought the property at 58 West 10th Street, where a small 1836 house built for Owen Crosby had served as the meeting place of the Tile Club. His friend Stanford White enlarged the front house and joined it to the Crosby house with a one-story rear addition, mixing Federal and Greek Revival details. Armstrong designed a first-floor stained glass window of more than 400 panes and the staircase skylight.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1893

    April 7

    Hamilton Fish Armstrong is born at 58 West 10th Street

    Hamilton Fish Armstrong, the future editor of Foreign Affairs, was born at 58 West 10th Street on April 7, 1893. He became managing editor of the journal in 1922 and its editor in 1928, a post he held until 1972. He died at the same address in 1973.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1989

    January 3

    A fire damages the roof and upper floors during renovation

    In 1987 New York University announced that the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation would buy the house for an Onassis Center for Hellenic Studies. While renovations were underway, a fire broke out on January 3, 1989 and damaged the upper floors and roof. Armstrong's windows survived except for the skylight, and architect David Paul Helpern continued the renovation.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2007

    The house becomes NYU's Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House

    In 2007 the house became the center of New York University's Creative Writing Program, with major support from Lillian Vernon. It serves as a setting for readings, panel discussions, lectures, and seminars.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village