545 East 11th Street | Block : 405 | Lot #39

Description & Building Alterations

This Gothic Revival style building, built in 1867-68, originally housed the Eleventh Street Methodist Episcopal Church. After a renovation in 1900, it was renamed the People’s Home Church and Settlement. In 1941 the Methodists sold the building to the Russian Ukrainian Polish Pentecostal Church, which the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report tells us was “the first Slavic Pentecostal church in the country.” This church merged in 1998 with Father’s Heart Ministries, and since then the church has been known as the Father’s Heart Ministry Center.

This building has a gabled front of red brick outlined in white-painted wood trim and spiky finials at the apex of the gable. The pointed hood moldings and three finials are reminiscent of medieval church structures and are popular elements for Christian places of worship. The cornice features an interesting but unusual series of pendants that create miniature pointed arches. The doorway has a Colonial Revival style Gibbs surround that dates from 1901 when the architects Jallade & Barber remodeled the building and the entrance was moved from the center bay to the left and given a Georgian-style door surround. The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 2010.