Sniffen Court Historic District

Coordinates: 40°44′49″N 73°58′41″W / 40.74694°N 73.97806°W / 40.74694; -73.97806
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sniffen Court Historic District
Lexington Avenues
Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates40°44′49″N 73°58′41″W / 40.74694°N 73.97806°W / 40.74694; -73.97806
Built1863-1864
Built byJohn Sniffen
Architectural styleEarly Romanesque revival
NRHP reference No.73001224
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 28, 1973[1]
Designated NYCLJune 21, 1966

The Sniffen Court Historic District is a small close-ended

stables built in 1863–1864 in the early Romanesque Revival style.[2][3] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Sniffen Court as a city historic district on June 21, 1966,[4] and the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1973.[1]

Description and history

Sniffen Court may have been named after John Sniffen, a local builder,[4][5] although The New York Times could not find evidence of his involvement with the alley.[5] As the need for carriage houses lessened, the buildings were converted for other uses.[4] In 1918, two of the stables (#1, also known as 150 East 36th Street, and #3) were bought by the Amateur Comedy Club, which has been in existence since 1884, to be their clubhouse and theatre; they remain there today.[6] In the 1920s the conversions continued,[2] and by 1966 one of the buildings was in use as an architect's office, the gabled building at #2 (156 East 36th Street) was the home of a noted architect, while the remainder were small private residences.[4]

Two artists associated with the mews were the sculptors Malvina Hoffman and Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, both of whom had studios in the Court.[2][7] On the rear of the alley are mounted two sculpted plaques of Greek horsemen by Hoffman.[4]

Notable people

Composer

Pearl Buck resided in what had been Hoffman's home.[8] Also, legendary comedian Professor Irwin Corey owned a home on Sniffen Court for many years. Since then, the street has played host to model Claudia Schiffer, Lenny Kravitz and, more recently, British talk show host Graham Norton.[9]

In popular culture

Gallery

  • 1 Sniffen Court is also 150 East 36th Street
    1 Sniffen Court is also 150 East 36th Street
  • The buildings on the east side of the mews
    The buildings on the east side of the mews
  • Sculpted plaques by Malvina Hoffman
    Sculpted plaques by Malvina Hoffman

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Federal Register: 44 Fed. Reg. 7107 (Feb. 6, 1979)" (PDF). Library of Congress. February 6, 1979. p. 7538 (PDF p. 338). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e "Sniffen Court Designation Report" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. June 21, 1966. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2017.
  5. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Amateur Comedy Club brochure[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Harriet Frismuth" on the Fine Old Art website
  8. ^ Golson, Blair (December 23, 2002). "Widow's Walk". Observer. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  9. ^ Smith, Virginia K. (March 10, 2016). "Inside Sniffen Court, Murray Hill's hidden Civil War-era side street". Brick Underground.
  10. ^ "Classic Album covers : Strange Days – The Doors". Nevermindthebuspass.com. February 2, 2012. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2012.

External links

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