Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District, Federal style historic district in Lower Manhattan, United States.
The Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District is a residential historic district in Lower Manhattan, made up of Federal and Greek Revival row houses along three parallel streets. The buildings line the blocks between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street, forming some of the longest unbroken rows of 19th-century townhouses in New York City.
The land once belonged to the Richmond Hill estate, where George Washington set up his headquarters during the Revolutionary War, and where Aaron Burr later lived. After the estate was sold and subdivided, residential construction began in the 1820s and continued through much of the century.
The row houses on Charlton, King, and Vandam streets still have their original stoops, door frames, and decorative cornices, giving a clear picture of how Federal-style domestic architecture looked in the early 1800s. The streets see little foot traffic, so visitors can observe each facade at their own pace.
Walking the three streets in order from north to south gives a clear sense of how the district is laid out, as the rows of houses are nearly continuous. Paying attention to individual doorways and cornices helps to notice how the architectural style shifted slightly from one decade to the next.
Among the few non-residential buildings in the district, the former Public School 8, built in 1886, stands out with its red brick and terracotta ornament in a Queen Anne style designed by David Skaggs. It has been converted to apartments, but the decorative brickwork on the facade is still easy to spot from the street.
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