Laid out in 1799, Bedford Street was named for the London Street of the same name. In 1821, two years after he purchased land on the street, merchant Isaac Jaques sold several of the plots to builders James Vandenberg and Isaac Freeman. The partners erected prim Federal style houses on their plots, identical to those they built for Jaques. Two-and-a-half stories tall, the frame houses were faced in Flemish bond red brick and trimmed in brownstone. Tidy dormers pierced the peaked roof.
James Vandenberg moved into the house at 68 Bedford Street, while Isaac Freeman took possession of 66 Bedford as an investment property. Freeman's tenants were middle class, like David Vanpelt, a carter (or delivery driver), and grocer Abraham D. Tompkins, whose families shared 66 Bedford Street in 1836.
They were followed in 1837 by Rev. B. Hibbard, who listed his profession as "druggist" rather than clergyman. While living here, he marketed Rev. B. Hibbard's Vegetable Antibilious Family Pills. An advertisement in The Evening Post on August 25, 1837 promised in part:
They are highly appreciated for the relief they afford in affections of the Liver and Digestive Organs. The worst cases of Chronic Dyspepsia, Inveterate Costiveness, Indigestion, Dyspeptic Consumption, Rheumatism, Nervous or Sick Headache and Scurvy, have been entirely cured by a proper use of them. Also, Liver Complaints, Fever and Ague, Bilious Fever, Jaundice, Dysentery or Bloody Flex, the premonitory symptoms of Cholera, Dropsical Swelling, Piles, Worms in Children, Fits, Looseness and Irregularity of the Bowels, occasioned by Irritation, Teething, &c.
The regular turnover in tenants continued into the 1850s. In 1851, carman Peter C. Westervelt occupied the house, followed by Henry Bredehoff, a grocer, in 1853 and '54. Then, in 1855, Deborah Coley, the widow of William Coley, moved into 66 Bedford Street with her daughter Rachel. At a time when few women were trained for anything other than domestic duties, it was common for widows to run boarding houses to make a living.
Given the size of the house and the fact that boarders often came with other family members, Deborah Coley never took in more than two at a time. In 1856 they were Samuel Barber and John C. Westervelt, both clerks. (The term ranged from low-level office workers to highly responsible employees who managed cash.)
On May 26, 1863, she advertised, "To Let--Second floor, in a genteel two story house, to a family without children. Inquire at 66 Bedford street. Rent $12 per month." That amount would translate to about $300 today.
Following her mother's death in 1874, Rachel Coley took over the operation of the house, continuing to accept respectable boarders like Eugene Lowe, a dealer in plumbers' materials, here in 1876, and Alfred B. Hazard, a clerk, in 1879.
Change came after World War I. On September 24, 1920, the New-York Tribune reported that Albertson Von Zo Post had purchased "the old fashioned house." He converted it to studio apartments, the Department of Buildings warning, "not more than two families cooking independently on premises." Post removed the three-step stoop and lowered the doorway, which was given a Georgian-style fanlight. The resultant gap between the top of the new entrance and the sheet metal cornice of the old one (which had been added along with those over the windows in the 19th century) was filled in with brick.
An advertisement in The New York Times on October 19, 1921 read simply, "Studio Apartment. 3 Rooms, kitchen, bath."
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
In 1914, Seventh Avenue was extended south to Varick Street, mowing a swath through Greenwich Village. Several of the resultant triangular-shaped plots, too small for a house or business, became home to gasoline stations. In 1922, one was erected directly behind 66 Bedford Street.
In 1982, Robert and Sandra Wagenfeld purchased 66 Bedford Street and the Seventh Avenue service station, which had closed in 1970. They returned the Bedford Street house to a single-family home, and renovated the service station as a guest house. The properties were purchased by investor Barry Schwartz in 2006. Five years later, when 64 Bedford Street became available, he purchased that home and joined the two houses internally with a single door at the rear.
photographs by the author
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