48 East 3rd Street | Block : 444 | Lot #12

Description & Building Alterations

This three-and-a-half story brick dwelling was originally built as a Greek Revival-style row house by architect Ephraim Scudder, who designed several rowhouses on this block. It is occupied by two families.

In the later 19th century, a bracketed Queen Anne-style cornice was added and the window lintels and sills were replaced. The new cornice replaced the original peaked roof. In 1919, the parlor floors were reconfigured and then in 1914, the second story windows were reconfigured. The cornices above the parlor and second floors were subsequently removed.

In 1959, poet George Nelson Preston opened a storefront called the Artist’s Studio, a center for the performance of jazz and poetry in the East Village. Norman Mailer, Frank O’Hara, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were frequent contributors. He helped play a crucial role in the Beat counterculture movement, enabling writers to publish their work and creating a venue where work could be presented to a broader audience.