It appears as if 121 Charles, at the corner of Greenwich, has been here forever but it is actually a 1967 interloper. It is an 1809 (?) farmhouse moved here by Sven and Ingrid Bernhart from York Avenue and East 71st Street, and trucked downtown to this spot on March 6th of that year, along with some of the cobblestones adjacent to it: hence the building’s nickname “Cobble Court.” While uptown it had been the home of author Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952; Goodnight Moon). Unfortunately I cannot find a photo of it in its uptown location; logically, it would be included in 1940s NYC, but a lot of lots are left out and that’s a lot of disappointment. OK, I’ll stop. Village Preservation has a photo of it as it was being moved.
The building is included in the Greenwich Village landmarked neighborhood and so can’t be easily altered. According to Brick Underground its construction date can only be guessed at but it appears to be from the very early 19th Century. Records show that the Glass family operated a dairy farm, and later a restaurant called Healy’s Dining Room, beginning in 1868 on what was known as the Louvre Farm. Author Brown occupied the house in the 1940s and 1950s. Later owners the Bernhardts desired to save the house from demolition after the Manhattan Archdiocese purchased the property from them to build a senior home, and moved it downtown. In 1988, a couple named Suri Bieler and Eliot Brodsky purchased it. Last time I was by, nearly a decade ago now, I couldn’t get very close as a very loud watchdog was avidly guarding the place (though the canine sentinels seemed to like Untapped Cities).
The house is well-documented…
Tom Miller
Village Preservation
Ephemeral New York
Atlas Obscura
Scouting NY
Vanishing NY
Hatching Cat of Gotham
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10/26/23