295 East 8th Street
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They say history repeats itself, but not this time. Carve out your own place in the story and make this iconic East Village landmark your home today. Offered at $4,000,000 Common Charges — $715/month (including taxes) Percentage of Ownership — 12.7% (25.4 shares)
295 East 8th Street Apartment 2–3E
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The Building.
The Evolution of an Icon Throughout the mid 19th Century, New York City’s streets were replete with newsboys, bootblacks, orphans and juvenile petty criminals. In unfortunate Dickensian fashion, young neighborhood boys were often recruited by seasoned criminals and turned into career pick-pockets and the like. Trapped in a horrible socioeconomic circumstance, they roamed the Lower East Side with little opportunity to improve their welfare.
The Children’s Aid Society was founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace to “ensure the physical and emotional wellbeing of children and families, and to provide each child with the support and opportunities needed to become a happy, healthy and productive adult.” Over time, The Society transitioned its focus to educating children who fell through the cracks of the school system. Its mission was to instruct, provide lodging and ultimately find
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permanent family homes for these kids in an effort to turn petty thieves into industrious workers who would be a benefit to society as a whole. By the late 1800s, The Society’s lodging houses were antiquated and cramped. And so it was that the philanthropic heiress to a sugar and candy fortune, Mary Stuart, donated the then-spectacular sum of $50,000 in a trust for a magnificent new building to be erected on the chosen lots, Nos. 127 and 129 Avenue B, at the corner of Eighth Street on Tompkins’ Square. The lots were selected for their open air and natural light while centered in the midst of the class it aimed to benefit. For so noble a mission as helping poor children in real trouble, a powerful visual message needed to be sent throughout the community by way of architecture. Charles Loring Brace knew exactly to whom they should turn for this visual message. So it was the architects commissioned were the esteemed Calvert Vaux and George Kent Radford, partners in
Vaux & Radford. Then as now, all New York City citizens find themselves owing a debt of gratitude to Mr. Vaux: not only did he and his partners create glorious Central Park and Prospect Park, but also such timeless civic masterpieces as the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Of the 12 buildings Vaux ultimately designed for Brace, 295 East 8th Street is the largest extant and the only remaining example of a true Lodging House. Vaux was obviously inspired by The Society’s mission in his vision for 295 East 8th Street. He blended popular Queen Anne style with High Victorian Gothic elements such as steep pyramidal caps to towers, sharply protruding dormers and tall paneled chimney stacks, which valiantly juxtaposed against surrounding tenements. The Children’s Aid Society Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School was opened in 1887 where it served the neighborhood’s less fortunate
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children in one way or another for nearly 40 years. To commemorate Mary Stuart’s role in helping commission the Lodging House, Vaux inscribed an ornate terra cotta “S” on the Avenue B side of the building, along with the acronym “CAS” (for the Children’s Aid Society). These marvelous historical emblems still remain.
Then in 1925, a Jewish center called the Darchei Noam purchased and renovated the building to become the Talmud Torah Hebrew School. In 1950, The East Side Hebrew Institute’s yeshiva was moved there and the Institution began running a nondenominational food and clothing charity for the neighborhood poor. By the time the 1970’s arrived, Tompkins Square had become a notorious hub for drug dealers, junkies, and criminals. Parents became hesitant to send their children into that fray and in 1974 the Institute decided to abandon the building with the school’s Rabbi chaining the front doors declaring, “The neighborhood is burning!” It remained empty for three years. In shambles, 295 East 8th Street was purchased for back taxes in 1977 and slowly converted to residences in 1978. Being granted Landmark Status on May 16th, 2000 it remains a monumental reminder
of the work of The Children’s Aid Society and a testament to both social commitment and enduring architecture. The last time anyone was able to make a claim on a space within Vaux and Bradford’s storied Lodging House was 1978. And prior to that, never. So in the most literal way possible, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a living piece of Manhattan history. Within the Lodging House, Apartment 2–3E is located on the south, east and north sides of the 2nd and 3rd floors. With a corner position, light is guaranteed all day long. Once inside, look closer. It will be easy to find the original spirit of the building by stripping the existing sheetrock away to expose the wonderful Monk bond brickwork, and it’s thrilling to imagine the probability of 130 year old wooden ceiling joists and beams running lengthwise across the ceilings. As it stands, the lower floor features a wonderfully proportioned South facing
living area with wood-burning fireplace, 10-foot ceilings and a large wrought-iron enclosed Juliet balcony overlooking the recently restored St. Brigid’s church and Tompkins Square Park. To the rear of the home is a large dining area and kitchen with a north-facing window overlooking verdant planted gardens and the stately Christodora House on East 9th Street. The upper floor of the duplex currently has three comfortable bedrooms and is replete with exposed brick, two wood-burning fireplaces, arched windows and the opportunity to create a palatial master bath. There is opportunity here to add real value with the potential to create a large terrace off of the rear of the 2nd floor, a third bathroom, expose massive wooden beams and afford improvements to this brilliantly welcoming and storied space. They say history repeats itself, but not this time. Carve out your own place in the story and make this iconic East Village landmark your home today.
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The Home.
Apartment 2–3E The last time anyone was able to make a claim on a space within Vaux and Bradford’s storied Lodging House was 1978. And prior to that, never. So in the most literal way possible, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a living piece of Manhattan history.
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As it stands, the lower floor features a wonderfully proportioned South facing living area with wood-burning fireplace, 10 foot ceilings and a large wrought-iron enclosed Juliet balcony overlooking the recently restored St. Brigid’s church and Tompkins Square Park.
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Within the Lodging House, Apartment 2–3E is located on the south, east and north sides of the 2nd and 3rd floors, light is guaranteed all day long. Once inside, look closer. It will be easy to find the original spirit of the building by stripping the existing sheetrock away to expose the wonderful Monk bond brickwork, and it’s thrilling to imagine the probability of 130 year old wooden ceiling joists and beams running lengthwise across the ceilings.
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To the rear of the home is a large dining area and kitchen with a northfacing window overlooking verdant planted gardens and the stately Christodora House on East 9th Street.
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The upper floor of the duplex currently has three comfortable bedrooms and is replete with exposed brick, two large wood-burning fireplaces, arched windows and strip oak hardwood floors.
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Alternative Floor Plans.
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We have commissioned Lacina-Heitler Architects to help you envision the home that 2–3E at 295 East 8th could become. There is opportunity here to add real value with the potential to expose 140 year-old beams and brickwork unlocking the stories that these walls can tell. In the alternate floorplans on the following pages, huge family eat-in kitchens and bar/ library areas are proposed. A large terrace off of the rear of the living floor may be possible with board approval. Fans of multiple choice will rejoice at the options upstairs between adding ensuite master bath or reconfiguring to reflect an oversized two bedroom plan or a rock star’s ultimate one floor master suite. All alterations are subject to board approval.
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existing plan
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www.lacina-heitler.com
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2 KiTCHEn
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W/D
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Lower Level A
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WH
pWDR
Expanded Kitchen
D R EXiSTing pLAn
PROPOSED FEATURES 1. New Terrace proposed features 2. Expanded Open Kitchen 3. Coat Closet 1. new terrace 4. New Window 2. expanded open kitchen 5. Bar / Pool Room with3. coat closet Expanded Opening 4.to new window 5. bar / pool room with Living Room
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expanded opening to living room
All alterations are subject to board approval.
5 bAR
LiVing ROOm
existing plan
www.lacina-heitler.com
WALK-in CLOSET
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Upper Level A Ultimate Master Suite
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EXiSTing pLAn
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PROPOSED FEATURES proposed features 1. Expanding Opening to Below 2. Master Bedroom with1.Fireplace expanded opening to below 2. master bedroom with 3. Master Bath with Fireplace 4 Fireplace 4. Master Sitting Room with 3. master bath with Fireplace Expanded Opening to 4. Suite master sitting room with 5. Large Walk-in Closet expanded opening to sUite
mAST
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5. large walk-in closet
4 All alterations are subject to board approval.
mASTER SiTTing ROOm
2 mASTER bEDROOm
existing plan
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www.lacina-heitler.com
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2 KiTCHEn
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3 W/D
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Lower Level B
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pWDR
Open Loft with Library
D R EXiSTing pLAn
PROPOSED FEATURES 1. New Terrace proposed features 2. Expanded Open Kitchen 3. Coat Closet 1. new terrace 4. New Window 2. expanded open kitchen 5. Library with Expanded 3. coat closet 4. new window Opening to Living Room
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5. bar / pool room with expanded opening to living room All alterations are subject to board approval.
5 bAR
LiVing ROOm
existing plan
www.lacina-heitler.com
WALK-in CLOSET
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Upper Level B
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Two Bedroom with Master Suite
EXiSTing pLAn
PROPOSED FEATURES proposed features 1. Expanding Opening to Below 2. Master Bedroom with1.Fireplace expanded opening to below 2. master bedroom with 3. Master Bath with Fireplace Fireplace 4. Large Walk-in Closet 3. master bath with Fireplace 5. Second Bedroom 4. master sitting room with
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4 1
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mAST
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expanded opening to sUite 5. large walk-in closet
4 All alterations are subject to board approval.
mASTER SiTTing ROOm
2 mASTER bEDROOm
existing plan
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www.lacina-heitler.com
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KiTCHEn
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W/D
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Lower Level C
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pWDR
Open Loft with Foyer
D R EXiSTing pLAn
PROPOSED FEATURES 1. New Terrace proposed features 2. Expanded Open Kitchen 3. Coat Closets 1. new terrace 4. New Window 2. expanded open kitchen 5. Foyer with Expanded 3. coat closet 4. new window Opening to Living Room 5. bar / pool room with 6. New Entry
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3 5 3
expanded opening to living room
All alterations are subject to board approval.
5 bAR
LiVing ROOm
existing plan
www.lacina-heitler.com
WALK-in CLOSET
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Upper Level C
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Three Bedroom with Master Suite
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EXiSTing pLAn
PROPOSED FEATURES proposed features 1. Expanding Opening to Below 2. Master Bedroom with1.Fireplace expanded opening to below 2. master bedroom with 3. Master Bath Fireplace 4. Second Bedroom with Fireplace 3. master bath with Fireplace 5. Third Bedroom 4. master sitting room with
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mAST
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expanded opening to sUite 5. large walk-in closet
4 All alterations are subject to board approval.
mASTER SiTTing ROOm
2 mASTER bEDROOm
The East Village at a Glance.
Tompkins Square Park Between 7th and 10th streets, and avenues A and B.
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Known as Stuyvesant Meadows in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, the area was part of Peter Stuyvesant’s farm. By the late Eighteenth Century a great deal of the land from the East River to Second Avenue belonged to the estate of Mangle Minthorn, father-in-law to Daniel D. Tompkins, governor of New York and vice president of the United States under President James Monroe. The square was officially given designation as Clinton Square in The Commissioner’s Plan of 1811, which established the convenient grid system we know today. In 1833, its name was changed to Tompkins
Square after the good Mr. Tompkins. The area became known for its German immigrant population and was made up of mostly workers and middle class proprietors. Throughout the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries the park was known as the epicenter for protests and riots to rise up against everything from warfare, social welfare and even park curfews. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, locals saw the erection of masonry row houses and tenements to house the steady flow of immigrants arriving into the city. The construction of Greek Orthodox churches,
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Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues spoke to the increasing diversity within the neighborhood. By the early 1960’s, artists began moving into the neighborhood and Tompkins Square Park became the hub for outdoor concerts and hippie gatherings. Throughout the 1970’s the park was lurking with squatters, addicts and dealers who were evicted in the violent riot of 1988. It has since been a peaceful green oasis for locals and visitors of all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. It’s surrounded by some of the East Village’s most popular restaurants and cafes and features benches, basketball courts, playgrounds, a dog run, fountains and even a pool.
East 7th Street The United Nations of Food This hopping street offers a little taste of everything: Venezuelan arepas (Caracas), Maine style lobster rolls (Luke’s Lobster), Greek moussaka (Pylos),
Italian street food (Porchetta) and Caribbean jerk chicken (Miss Lily’s). To cleanse the palate, this thoroughfare also features two of the neighborhoods most beloved ice cream joints: German artisan style at Van Leeuwen and rich and creamy soft serve at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. This street is truly a foodie’s Utopia.
Mudspot 307 E 9th St, New York, NY 10003 (212) 228-9074
The MudSpot is the stationary sister of The Mudtruck, that bright orange van that peddles gourmet coffee from its parking spot on Astor Place. This café, like its mobile sibling, is staffed by good-natured, bandanna wearing servers and offers top notch coffee and eats. And instead of having to eat on the fly, you can linger for as long as you like, either inside or in the calming back garden. — Lauren Aaronson
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Sundaes & Cones
Edi & the Wolf
95 E 10th St, New York, NY 10003 (212) 979-9398
102 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009 (212) 598-1040
Sundaes and Cones pushes the frozen scoop beyond French Vanilla and German Chocolate to someplace farther East: namely Asia. So alongside the traditional flavors you’ve come to expect, servers dish out Ginger, Lychee, Mango, Red Bean, and Lavender before setting the finished cones in a stainless steel display as if they were tasty trophies. For the more adventurous, there’s Black Sesame (recalling the toasted Chinese candies we loved as kids) and Wasabi (which initially suggests mint-vanilla until the heat hits kicks in). For the old-fashioned, there’s a wood bench out front— infinitely more comfortable than the wrought-iron chairs inside. — Thalia Demakes
The inspiration for Edi & the Wolf, is the traditional eastern Austrian wine tavern known as a Heuriger. It features an extensive array of Central European varieties like Riesling, Rotgipfler, and Grüner Veltliner. Accompanying them are plates of classic Austrian comfort food, from pork schnitzel and pickled sardines to variously topped flatbreads baked in a pizza oven installed by the previous tenant. — Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite Cafe
Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter 94 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009 (212) 228-2972
For casual, heartwarming fare, the far East Village has given us Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter. Just stepping into this tiny, bustling, Rockwellesque
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feeding station with its twenty seats will boost your morale. There’s fried chicken flying out of the kitchen at a steady clip, hot sauces on the counter (Texas Pete is the one you want), and Willie Nelson and New Riders of the Purple Sage on the sound system. It’s the brainchild of Keedick Coulter, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, and, as such, a southern-food aficionado with a predilection for humanely raised meats and local, sustainable produce. The menu is as small as the space. The fried chicken is what you want. It’s brined in sweet tea and cooked in a pressure fryer, and it’s pretty much perfect: crunchy, crackling, juicy, relatively greaseless, and full of flavor. It comes with a side salad and a wonderful buttermilk biscuit, and should be supplemented by any number of sides. (Our favorite: the black-eyed peas.) — Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite
Saifee Hardware & Garden 114 1st Ave, New York, NY 10009 (212) 979-6396
This neighborhood hardware store boasts a Home Depot–worthy inventory in a space that’s anything but big-box. Eager staffers stand ready to direct shoppers through the many sections. Do-it-yourselfers can find an extensive trove of tools and painting supplies and locals can pick up everyday cleaning supplies such as Swiffer WetJets, light bulbs, and detergent. The stop also boasts a fantastic collection of home-décor items (curtains, votive candles, plant pots) and kitchen gadgets (cooking pots, pans, Brita filters). And Saifee’s gardening area carries rosebushes, daffodil bulbs, and Dwarf Alberta Spruces—as well as the shovels and soil needed to plant them. — Amy Wilkinson
Doc Holliday’s
Horseshoe Bar
141 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009 (212) 979-0312
108 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009 (212) 677-6742
This East Village institution is the anti-Manhattan watering hole. There’s a crumbling mural of an Old West gunfighter outside, beer mirrors, and scarred tables. The jukebox churns out classic rock and country, the pours tend toward Budweiser and Jack Daniel’s and the crowd tends toward students and young professional types. And, as at Hogs & Heifers and so many other local mockredneck establishments, the barmaid occasionally will jump up on the bar and launch into some kind of Riverdance to the subtle strains of the Charlie Daniels Band. — Lissa T. Rodgers
With its large multi-paned tudor window and arched castle-like entry door, Horseshoe Bar looks like the type of place Model T Fords would be parked outside of. The rough-hewn, dark-wood interior fixtures include a U-shaped bar enclosing a towering wall of booze that has appeared in movies like The Godfather II and Crocodile Dundee. The bar itself is the size of a moat, long enough for 31 taps of beer. Patrons listen to the punk-heavy jukebox and take turns on the Spiderman pinball machine. — Daniel Maurer
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The Third Man 116 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009 (212) 598-1040
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Owned by the group behind Edi and the Wolf, Alphabet City’s The Third Man is a snug chef-driven cocktail bar where the drinks are an experiment with fresh produce, herbs, and beautiful, beautiful booze. In a neighborhood that could practically be called Manhattan’s cocktail district, The Third Man distinguishes itself with the space alone. Think Brooklyn industrial meets Martha Stewart: wood floors, exposed brick, and hand-blown glass light fixtures are accented by vases of cotton or magnolia boughs. And lest we forget, there’s booze too: the Harry Lime’s mescal, green maraschino, lime, and a Prosecco back mix together for a quaff that’s zippy, smoky, and has just enough bite. Other drinks combine grain alcohol with celery juice, dill, or honey, and there are a couple German wheat beers and glasses of wine available if your preferences run
a bit more traditional. The Third Man also has your basic wine bar fare of cheeses and charcuterie should you or the rest of the well-heeled, downtown date crowd want a little nosh between tipples. — Ben Lebeaux
Mogador 101 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009 (212) 677-2226
Locals fill this crowded, noisy brick-walled café, nibbling olives and sopping up tagine drippings with piles of couscous. The theme is Moroccan, with excursions into generic Middle Eastern territory— falafels, babaganoush, kebabs, and a hummus that is beloved by regulars. More interesting are the tagines, available with chicken or lamb, in any of several varieties, from the classic preserved lemon and olive to the spicy green Charmoulla. Dine in the cozy yet spacious dining room or charming sidewalk patio. — Matt Gross
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McSorley’s Old Ale House 15 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003 (212) 473-9148
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No matter how long you’ve lived in Fun City, you can’t really claim residency until you’ve had a pint at McSorley’s. Like most Fodor’s-approved destinations, this ancient taproom’s modest appeal has been eclipsed by its resolutely un-hip reputation. Mugs of house-brand ale are served in pairs (like Twinkies)— one light, one dark. If you order anything off the spartan menu, make it the cheese and onion plate: The big slice of raw onion and hunks of sharp cheddar will arm-wrestle your senses to a draw, overpowering even the bouquet of more than a hundred years of spilt ale soaked into everything. — Bruce Bennett
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Living. Powered By Urban Compass.
Jesse Shafer Licensed Real Estate Broker 646.554.3124 jesse@urbancompass.com
Greg McHale Licensed Real Estate Broker 443.858.5858 greg@urbancompass.com