79 East 7th Street | Block : 449 | Lot #42

Building Date : 1846
Original Use : Residential

Original Owner : J. Sparrow
Original Architect : Unknown

Description & Building Alterations

This five-story brick tenement was originally built as a Greek Revival-style single-family house in 1846, and was altered into a multiple dwelling in 1876.

The present facade features neo-grec detailing with hooded window lintels with moldings at fourth and fifth stories, simple rectangular window sills, and an ornate galvanized-iron cornice featuring a large paneled frieze, oversized brackets, anthemion, and other stylized details. The lintels at second and third stories have been stripped. When the building was altered into a multiple dwelling in 1876, architect William Jose added a story to the structure and in 1947 the entrance was moved to the basement level.

Block : 449 / Lot : 042 / Building Date : 1846 / Original Owner : J. Sparrow / Original Use : Residential / Original Architect : Unknown

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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.