Merchant's House Museum
History
The Neighborhood
The NoHo Historic District, designated in 1999, includes approximately 160 buildings, 11 of which are distinguished as individual NYC Landmarks. Taken together, these 11 buildings tell the remarkable story of the economic, social, and technological forces that transformed New York during the 19th century.
In 1832, when the Merchant’s House was built, elegant Greek Revival rowhouses of red brick and white marble flanked the tree-lined streets of this fashionable residential enclave, known then as the Bond Street Area. At mid-century, cast iron construction made its first appearance with the founding of The Cooper Union. Commercial buildings and factories gradually began to dominate the area. By the 1880s wealthy residents moved uptown, completely abandoning the neighborhood. By century’s end, Louis Sullivan’s 12-story steel-framed office building was scraping the sky on Bleecker Street.
Today, Historic NoHo is once again a very fashionable place to live, work, shop, and dine, proving that history does indeed repeat itself!
Click here to download a printable walking tour of Historic NoHo's Landmark buildings.