277 West 10th Street, Then & Now
Located at the corner of West 10th and Washington Streets, the imposing building at 277 West 10th Street was built between 1894 and 1896 to the designs of Martin V.B. Ferdon. Now residential, it lies within the boundaries of the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension in the Far West Village.
No. 277 West 10th Street was opened as a warehouse for James Everard, an Irish immigrant who arrived in New York as a young boy. After working as a brick mason and several other odd jobs, Everard invested in real estate in several city neighborhoods. The West 10th Street property, which had previously been the site of a brewery, was developed as the Everard Storage Warehouse.
The c. 1940 tax photograph may be a bit too dark to see the entire building, but it reveals the beautiful depth of the two primary facades. Bays two windows wide at the middle stories are capped by large arch surrounds at the 10th story, and give the building a strong sense of verticality. The stone-clad base also offers solidity to the massive structure in an area where low-scale buildings prevail.
In the photograph, the cornice is clearly visible even if for the most part it appears in silhouette. Its rounded edge at the corner of 10th and Washington is striking. Although it is difficult to tell in this photograph, letters spelling “EVERARD” are installed on the cornice of both facades. Interestingly, although the building ceased to function as the Everard Storage Warehouse long ago, the letters still existed at the time of the historic district’s designation in 2006.
Today, the cornice along Washington Street has been removed, giving the building an odd look that almost resembles a bad haircut. This was how it looked at the time of designation eight years ago, but a historic image from c. 1970 shows it was still there. Except for the cornice and the windows, the building itself is largely intact from its days as a warehouse, and is an important reminder of the neighborhood’s industrial lineage.
An application “to demolish the one-story house, and construct a new one-story building, enlarge the rooftop addition, install rooftop mechanical equipment, alter the facade and install windows” was presented at the July 14th Community Board 2 hearing. You can see the presentation on our Landmarks Applications Webpage. The application’s hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission was laid over and has yet to be rescheduled.