642 East 14th Street | Block : 396 | Lot #28

Building Date : 1890
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : William H. Muldoon
Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

Description & Building Alterations

These handsome Queen Anne Style tenement buildings were all erected in 1890 by 23-year-old architect George F. Pelham for owner William H. Muldoon. Construction cost $20,000 for each one. The ground floors from no. 628 to no. 640 alternate between a rockface brownstone with a central stoop leading to a linteled entrance, and a smooth brownstone with an arched entrance. The ground floors of no. 262 and 642 have storefronts. The second floors across the row have square-headed windows, with framing that alternates between plain brick piers and brickwork simulating rustication. The third and fourth floors showcase alternating arched windows and square-headed windows. The top floors and bracketed black cornices with high central parapets are identical for all the buildings. No. 642 is the only building of the row with a removed cornice.

Block : 396 / Lot : 028 / Building Date : 1890 / Original Owner : William F. Muldoon / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : George Frederick Pelham

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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.