Master masons restoring Greenwich Village's historic façades, stoops, and ironwork since 1995. LPC-approved for Manhattan historic districts.
Greenwich Village is one of New York City's most architecturally significant historic districts — designated in 1969 and covering roughly 100 blocks of Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Anglo-Italianate row houses dating from the 1820s through the 1880s. The Village contains the largest concentration of pre-1860 residential architecture in Manhattan.
The Village developed in the 1820s and 1830s as merchant-class New Yorkers moved north away from the disease and density of lower Manhattan. Federal-style brick row houses from this period — with simple Flemish-bond brickwork, dormered roofs, and modest entry stoops — still line streets like Charlton, King, and Vandam. The Italianate boom of the 1850s and '60s filled in the remaining lots with larger, more ornate row houses. The Village's architectural integrity was preserved through the 20th century partly by its bohemian reputation, which kept large-scale redevelopment away.
Notable streets: Washington Square North, MacDougal Street, Sullivan Street, Bleecker Street, Christopher Street, West 4th Street.
Greenwich Village's Federal-era brick (1820s-1830s) is the softest masonry material we encounter in NYC. The handmade bricks were fired at lower temperatures than later mass-produced brick, and the original mortar was nearly pure lime putty — softer even than NHL 2. Restoration here requires the most carefully matched mortar in the city, and any work must be approved by both the LPC and often the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation as well.
Federal-era brick repointing with very soft NHL 2 lime mortar; Greek Revival entry restoration with original wooden doors, sidelights, and transoms; Italianate cornice repair; LPC compliance for one of the strictest review districts in the city; ornamental ironwork restoration on the elaborate Federal-era handrails and area gates.
Free on-site assessment. Written estimate within five business days. We know your block.
