The Greenwich Village building explosion that began in the 1820s often made speculative developers out of investors like hatmakers, bankers and attorneys. In 1842, cigarmaker Edward S. Innes joined the trend by erecting three brick-faced, Greek Revival-style homes at 749 through 753 Washington Street. Three stories tall and three bays wide, they sat upon brownstone basements.
William Dunning, who owned a substantial lumber business at 488 West Street, purchased 749 Washington Street. He and his wife would have at least one child while living here. William Jr. was born in 1847. The family remained here until about 1851 when they relocated to Manhattanville. The move may have been prompted by Dunning's receiving a contract with the city to provide lumber for "Aqueduct Repairs and Improvements." (The massive "High Bridge" that brought water to New York City had been completed in 1848.)
The house was briefly home to the William Jaycocks family. He and Dunning assuredly knew one another and were possibly involved in business together. Jaycocks also ran a lumber business on West Street. Boarding with the family in 1851 (and most likely sharing a room) were sisters Helen C. and Augusta W. Scott. Both were primary school teachers. Helen taught at School No. 10 on Amos Street (later West 10th) near Washington Street. Augusta's commute was not so convenient. She taught at School No. 6 on Randall's Island.
The Jaycocks were supplanted by the Thomas Disbrow family in 1855. Disbrow was a painter and his daughter, Emily J. Disbrow, was a teacher at School No. 45 on West 24th Street. She made $125 in 1855 (equal to about $3,640 in 2025). In 1858, she received a significant $25 raise.
Resident Maria H. Forbes Renville took in boarders by the outbreak of the Civil War. Born in 1804, she married Thomas N. Hulbert Renville in 1827. He died in 1852.
On March 16, 1863, The New York Times headlined an article, "The Draft Begun." Among the long list of names drawn in the lottery was A. C. Roduskey, who boarded at 749 Washington Street.
The news was doubly troubling to the residents. Just the previous day, the funeral of Maria H. Renville's brother, Collin Forbes, had been held in the parlor. A member of Company M., 13th Regiment New York Heavy Artillery, he had died on February 2 at Camp Graham, Virginia, "while in the service of his country," as reported by The New York Times. Forbes was 58 years old.
On May 2, 1870, Peter Huff purchased 749 Washington Street for $9,400 (about $226,000 today). He initiated improvements and on May 6, 1871 the Record & Guide reported, "cellar to be excavated and basement to be built." Unfortunately, it appears Huff dug below the foundation. Exactly one week later, on May 13, the journal reported that 749 Washington Street had been deemed an "unsafe building," noting, "unsafe and cracked north party wall." Happily, the repairs were successfully made.
In March 1874, Peter and his wife, Amelia, had a baby girl, Deborah. The infant died a few days later, on March 9. Her funeral was held in the parlor two days later.
The following year, in December, the house was sold to A. D. Cooper and his wife, Eliza. They took in a boarder, Henry C. Petty, in 1876. He earned $1,200 per year as an attendant in Superior Court.
After her husband's death, Eliza Cooper transferred title to the property in November 1880 to John H. Cooper, presumably a son. He sold the house to William Lyon in May 1885 for $8,750 (about $286,000 today). In reporting the sale, the Record & Guide described 749 Washington Street as a "tenement," meaning it was being operated as a multi-family dwelling. The sale initiated a rapid series of turnovers through the turn of the century.
In the meantime, the property continued to be operated as a boarding or rooming house. Its working class tenants often struggled. On November 18, 1897, for instance, one of them placed an advertisement in The World that read, "Young man, 23, willing to work to support widowed mother. Cook, 749 Washington-st."
The O'Loughlin family rented rooms here in 1915. On the night of October 28 that year, their 11-year-old son, James, hitched a ride on the back of a truck. The New York Times reported that at the corner of Grove and Hudson Street, he "jumped from the rear of a truck...directly in front of an automobile owned and operated by Israel Straus." Although Straus tried to swerve, the boy was struck and sent flying several feet. The article said Straus, "took the child to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he died a few minutes later of internal injuries." Straus was not charged.
Frank Blanck, who was on the government's list of Communist voters in 1936, was among the last residents of 749 Washington Street before it was converted for business. In 1941, the windows were closed off with concrete blocks as the former residence awaited a commercial tenant.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
A renovation completed in 1951 resulted in offices in the basement and one apartment each on the upper floors. The stoop was removed at the time.
The beleaguered building caught the eye of Katharine Schoonover and her husband Alan Straus in 1982. They purchased the property, according to The Villager, "knowing they'd need to completely renovate both its insides and outsides in order to create the home they wanted." The couple hired the restoration architectural firm Preserv to oversee the renovations. Sixteen years into the project, the stoop was refabricated, earning it the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's Front Stoop Award in June 1998.
The comprehensive restoration was finally completed in 2004, resulting in a single family home that faithfully mimics its appearance when William Dunning moved his family into the house in 1842.
photographs by the author
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