MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District

Located a few blocks south of Washington Square, this enchanting historic district, with its rows of three-story houses designed in the Greek Revival style, retains its charming residential character. The cohesive appearance of the district is due to the original builders, the Low Family, and to the design and planning principles of the Hearth and Home real estate corporation, and its president, William Sloane Coffin.

In 1796, Nicholas Low, a prominent New York merchant and financier, purchased the land on which this district now stands. In the 1840s and 1850s, the Estate of Nicholas Low erected the twenty-two, three-story with basement houses that comprise the district. Instead of selling the houses individually, as was the general practice at the time, they were kept as income property until 1920, when they were sold to the Hearth and Home real estate corporation.

The rows on Sullivan and MacDougal Streets were then renovated to provide moderately priced housing for middle-class professionals. While the interiors were modernized, minimal changes were made to the exterior of the buildings. The architects Francis Y. Joannes and Maxwell Hyde removed the stoops and the basement entrances, adding Greek Revival elements in keeping with the original designs of the houses. An important feature of Coffin's plan was the development of the open area in the interior of the block, which incorporated a large central area for communal use and children's playground areas, as well as the more typical small private gardens. This plan employed by Hearth and Home became the model for other developments in the city, such as Turtle Bay Gardens and Sutton Place. ©2014