78 Second Avenue | Block : 446 | Lot #4

Building Date : 1841, 1886
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : Elisha Peck (1841), Emilie Gevvard (1886)
Original Architect : Unknown (1841), Frederick Ebeling (1886)

Description & Building Alterations

The building at 78 Second Avenue was originally built in 1841 as a three-story Greek Revival-style row house with an attic story under a peaked roof. It was raised to full four stories in 1886.

The current facade features planar brick and a historic bracketed cornice with Queen Anne-style elements likely installed in 1886, at the time of the building’s extension. The historic stoop, entrance enframement and window lintel details have been removed. The one-story storefront extension was added in 1929.

This building is part of a row of houses at 78 to 84 Second Avenue originally owned by Elisha Peck.

Block : 446 / Lot : 004 / Building Date : 1841, 1886 / Original Owner : Elisha Peck (1841), Emilie Gevvard (1886) / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown (1841), Frederick Ebeling (1886)

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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.