MacDougal–Sullivan Gardens Historic District

History

The land under what would become the historic district was purchased in 1796 by Nicholas Low, a prominent New York merchant. The houses were built in 1844 (MacDougal Street) and 1850 (Sullivan Street) by Low's estate, in the fashionable Greek Revival style. The original plans for the houses called for street level retail space and dormered roofs.

Over time, the houses became run-down, until they were bought in 1920 by William Sloane Coffin Sr., a director of the furniture and rug retailer W. & J. Sloane, who formed the Hearth and Home Corporation to do so. Coffin's intention was to create an affordable development for middle-class professionals in what had become a slum; the project would be the most extensive such effort to that time. 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, altered the doorways and entrances to the basement level, and combined the rear yards to make a common garden which included a playground for children.

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.

Coffin's development was influential in its time, inspiring other developments such as that which is now the Turtle Bay Gardens Historic District, and remains a "model for urban city housing".

References

References

1. [https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp "MacDougal–Sullivan Gardens Historic District"] on the NRHP database
2. [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] [http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/MACDOUGAL-SULLIVAN_GARDENS_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.pdf "MacDougal–Sullivan Gardens Historic District Designation Report"] (August 2, 1967)
3. Anne B. Covell. (August 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District". National Archives and Records Administration.
4. {{cite landmarks, p.673
5. {{cite AIA4, p.124