39 First Avenue | Block : 444 | Lot #39

Building Date : 1867
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Louis Heller
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

The tenement building that stands at No. 39 First Avenue is identical to the one at No. 41 First Avenue. It is a five story brick building with Italianate details and was constructed in 1867. Allan Hay & Co.’s soap and candle factory at this location was destroyed by a fire in 1863. The adjacent building at No. 37 was also destroyed in the fire.

The four-bay wide facade is decorated with an Italianate bracketed cornice, arched window lintels and bracketed sills. Portions of the cornice above the ground floor are still visible, although in poor condition.

Block : 444 / Lot : 039 / Building Date : 1867 / Original Owner : Louis Heller / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown

Do you know this building? Please share your own stories or photos of this building here!

What is the Building Blocks Project

What does a building mean to someone who lives there? A person who lives on the block? In the neighborhood? In the city? This site presents a wealth of historic information gained from GVSHP’s architectural research survey about the buildings located in the East Village.

The site explores the area generally considered today as the East Village: from a northern border of 14th Street to a southern border of Houston Street, Avenue D in the east to 4th Avenue/the Bowery to the west. You can explore the information about the blocks and buildings featured here in two ways.

Pick a block. Maybe it’s yours, or perhaps it is just your favorite place to shop, grab a bite, or just people watch. Then explore the buildings that make up that block. Or take one of the many guided tours on the site, curated by a collection of organizations and experts from the neighborhood. See how they experience the neighborhood. Then tell us what the neighborhood means to you. The site’s comments section allows you to open a dialogue with others who feel just as passionately as you do about the East Village.