MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District
Encyclopedia
The MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District is a small historic district consisting of 22 houses located at 74-96 MacDougal Street
and 170-188 Sullivan Street between Houston and Bleecker
Streets in the South Village
neighborhood of Manhattan
, New York City
.
The houses were built in 1844 (MacDougal Street) and 1850 (Sullivan Street) in the Greek Revival
style, but became deteriorated until they were bought in 1920 by William Sloane Coffin, a director of the W. & J. Sloane Company furniture and rug retailer, who formed the Hearth and Home Corporation to do so. Coffin's intention was to create a middle-class development in what had become a slum; the project would be the most extensive such effort to date. Coffin engaged architects Francis Y. Joannes and Maxwell Hyde, who converted the houses into apartments – a five-room duplex, a four-room apartment, and two "non-housekeeping" apartments – and re-faced the buildings in Colonial Revival
style while retaining some of the original Greek Revival elements. They removed all the buildings' stoops and combined the rear yards to make a common garden.
The renovation of the buildings was completed by 1921, and the garden by 1923. The houses were sold to individual owners in 1924, with the integrity of the project maintained by the MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Association.
The district was designated a New York City landmark in 1967 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1983.
MacDougal Street
MacDougal Street is a one way street in Greenwich Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The approximate six-block street is bound by Prince Street and West 8th Street. It has been the subject of many songs, poems, and other forms of artistic expression. MacDougal Street has been...
and 170-188 Sullivan Street between Houston and Bleecker
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
Streets in the South Village
South Village
The South Village is a largely residential area in Lower Manhattan in New York City, directly below Washington Square Park. Known for its immigrant heritage and Bohemian history, the South Village overlaps areas of Greenwich Village and SoHo...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The houses were built in 1844 (MacDougal Street) and 1850 (Sullivan Street) in the Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style, but became deteriorated until they were bought in 1920 by William Sloane Coffin, a director of the W. & J. Sloane Company furniture and rug retailer, who formed the Hearth and Home Corporation to do so. Coffin's intention was to create a middle-class development in what had become a slum; the project would be the most extensive such effort to date. Coffin engaged architects Francis Y. Joannes and Maxwell Hyde, who converted the houses into apartments – a five-room duplex, a four-room apartment, and two "non-housekeeping" apartments – and re-faced the buildings in Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style while retaining some of the original Greek Revival elements. They removed all the buildings' stoops and combined the rear yards to make a common garden.
The renovation of the buildings was completed by 1921, and the garden by 1923. The houses were sold to individual owners in 1924, with the integrity of the project maintained by the MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Association.
The district was designated a New York City landmark in 1967 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983.