The Abraham Parsell House - 46 Macdougal Street

Little remains of the house's 1826 Federal style appearance.

Around 1826, the two-and-a-half story house at 46 Macdougal Street was completed.  Faced in red Flemish bond brick, its peaked roof would have been punctured by one or two dormers.  In 1827, it was home to miniature painter Abraham Rykers Parsell and his wife, the former Mary Richards.

Parsell was born in Somerset, New Jersey in 1791.  He and Mary were married in 1819 and they had a son, John H. Parsell, who was six years old when they moved in.  (Two other children, William G. and Mary Elizabeth, had died.)  

Miniature portraits had been popular in America for decades.  Parsell's success and significant following were reflected in his working for years from the Macdougal Street house, rather than traveling from city to city as most miniaturists did.  His oval paintings on ivory were placed in pendant frames or in lockets.

This miniature was almost assuredly painted in the Macdougal Street house.  image via leslieantiques.com

In 1845, John, who was now 24 years old, was listed in directories as an "artist."  That career choice may have been more his father's wish than his own.  Six years later, now married to Mary Starr, he was living on Commerce Street and had changed his profession to "letter carrier."  He would continue to work for the post office for decades.

With their son gone, the Parsells took in roomers, a common practice.  Their ad in the New York Herald in 1853 read, "Boarding--Two or three single gentlemen can be accommodated with bedrooms and sitting room in a private family, where only two or three boarders will be taken, breakfast and tea, and dinner of the Sabbath.  Terms moderate."

As the ad specified, Mary Parsell was taking in roomers, not running a boarding house.  Her tenants would receive one meal per week--on Sunday.

Abraham Parsell died here on February 10, 1856.  His funeral was held in the house three days later.  

Mary apparently went to live with her son and daughter-in-law and 46 Macdougal street was leased to Rev. Duncan Dunbar.  He and Abraham Parsell were born the same year, in 1791, but many miles away from one another.  Dunbar was born in the northern Highlands of Scotland.  He moved to Aberdeen at the age of 19, where he married Christina Mitchel.  She was described by The Baptist Encyclopedia of 1881 as, "a lady of a gentle, loving disposition, and of deep, earnest piety."  The couple immigrated to America in December 1823 and on June 10, 1828 Dunbar accepted the pastorship of the Macdougal Street Baptist Church.  In 1850, he left to serve at a Philadelphia church, but returned to the Macdougal Street congregation in 1853.

As was the case with almost all clergymen, both congregants and strangers might knock on his door at any hour, seeking solace or service.  The parlor, therefore, was sometimes a makeshift chapel.  On November 3, 1858, for instance, The Family Herald reported that Rev. Dunbar had married Robert Allen and Ellen Lenihan "at his residence, 46 Macdougal street," on October 9.

Rev. Duncan Dunbar died on July 18, 1864.  John Parsell moved back into his childhood home.  Living with him and Mary were their 15-year-old son, Theodore P., and Mary's mother, Mary Starr.  The 84-year-old widow died on August 9, 1865, shortly after they moved in.  Her funeral was held in the parlor two days later.

John was still listed as a letter carrier in 1874 when Theodore was working as a clerk.  That year John hired builder Jackson Stymuts to enlarge the house with a rear extension.

The following year, John H. Parsell set off on an astounding adventure.  He left New York headed to California, going through Panama and Mexico to get there.  Interestingly, his detailed journal does not mention his wife, who apparently remained at home in New York.

Before leaving, Parsell sold 46 Macdougal Street to George Clipp, who immediately raised the attic to a full floor with an Italianate-style cornice.

George Clipp was in the piano business.  Living with the family in 1876 were Frederick Klein, a clerk; and Patrick Callahan, who was a hatter.  

Clipp did not enjoy his remodeled home for very long.  He died on January 4, 1877 at the age of 69.  Interestingly, his funeral was not held in the house, as would have been expected, but at St. John's Chapel on Varick Street.

The house was purchased by Hannah R. and George N. Earl, who lived in Little Falls, New Jersey.  They leased the house for just over a decade, selling it to Anna Kroeger for $10,500 in August 1889.  (The price would translate to about $359,000 in 2025.)

Kroeger operated 46 Macdougal Street either as a boarding or rooming house.  Her tenants were middle-class professionals.  In 1897, for instance, they included John Maher, a marshal; William F. McGuiness, who was a clerk; and printer William F. Higgins.  Owen McCarton, who also lived here, listed no profession, suggesting he was retired.

When Anna Kroeger transferred title to 46 Macdougal street to Adaline S. C. Kroeger in March 1911, the Department of Buildings described it as a tenement (the term covered all multi-family buildings).  Adaline would not retain ownership for long.  In 1914, she sold it to Pietro Nervo and Giuseppe Balbiani, partners in the P. Nervo, Balbiani & Co. bakery.

The pair hired architect Frank E. Vitolo to alter the ground floor for their bakery.  Six years later, they purchased the house next door at 44 Macdougal and brought Vitolo back to expand the bakery into both buildings.  

The Nervo and Balbiani families lived in the converted houses for decades.  The men eventually anglicized their names to Peter and Joseph, respectively.  On March 10, 1966, The Villager reported on Andrew S. Balbiani's admittance to the engineering and architectural firm Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton.  The article mentioned, "The Balbiani family lived at 46 Macdougal St., where his late father, Joseph, was partner in a bakery, P. Nervo, Balbiani and Co. for 30 years.

The joined ground floors of 44 and 46 Macdougal street were the bakery shop for decades.

In 1971, the bakery space was converted to a commercial art gallery.  By 1994, the Mission Grill occupied the space.  The restaurant marketed itself as "Cali-Mex food with 'square meal' portions."  

A renovation completed in 2009 resulted in a single-family home.  

photographs by the author