The Washington Irving House
Built: 1843–44
Builder: Peter P. Voorhis
Location: 122 East 17th Street (or 49 Irving Place)
NEW YORK—Home of America’s first renowned interior decorator—Elsie de Wolfe—Washington Irving House, located on 122 East 17th Street (also known as 49 Irving Place), is said to have a long and prosperous history.
It was here that Elsie de Wolfe and Elisabeth Marbury resided between 1892–1911. They established a Parisian-typed salon defined by “white décor”—the style that was to become synonymous with de Wolfe’s career as America’s first interior decorator. The salon was host to personalities such as Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, Ellen Terry, and Isabella Stewart Gardner.
During de Wolfe and Marbury’s residency, a legend emerged that Washington Irving himself had resided in the house. Despite a bronze plaque being dedicated to Washington Irving on the 17th Street façade, it is unlikely the story has any historical accuracy and was more likely a ploy for de Wolfe’s self-promotion.
Washington Irving House is still regarded as a historically and architecturally significant structure. In 1988, the building was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Part of the East 17th Street Historic District (containing 10 residential buildings from Union Square East to Irving Place), Washington Irving House is renowned as the most architecturally eloquent.
Washington Irving House is the only property in the historic district on a corner with two street façades—Greek revival and Italianate. Initially built in 1843–44, it was one of three row houses designed in accord with the Greek Revival style—an architectural movement perceived to assert independence and nationalism during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The building was extended along 17th Street in 1853–54 with an Italianate façade—part of Classical architecture that was seen as an alternative to Greek Revival architecture in America.
The three-story house sits above a brownstone base with a rustic red-brick façade. The intricate ornamental detail on the building is what distinguishes this house. The stoop ironwork and projecting window lintels and sills remain from the original structure.
Exterior additions have given architectural flare to this building. The canopied cast-iron porch, exquisite entranceway on 17th Street, and three-sided oriel are just few of the many ornamental details that made it a historic landmark.
Today, Washington Irving House remains as a residential building with a Japanese restaurant operating in the basement.
