{"nrhp_refnum":"07000484","name":"House at 20 West 16th St.","other_names":["Emma Stebbins House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"20 W. 16th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.737732581000046,"lon":-73.99408911399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-05-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-and-one-half-story Gothic Revival brick row house at 20 West 16th Street in Manhattan, built in 1844-1845 as one of five attached houses by Thomas Oliver.","why_significant":"The house is one of the few Gothic Revival row houses built in Manhattan and one of fewer that survive largely intact, notably with its ornate wooden cornice. It is also linked to sculptor Emma Stebbins, who owned it and lived there intermittently from 1854 to 1882. The form marks it for Architecture and Art, under Criterion B for the life of a significant person.","narrative":"Built in 1844-1845, this brick row house at 20 West 16th Street in Manhattan is one of the few Gothic Revival row houses constructed in the city and one of fewer still that remain largely intact. Thomas Oliver built it as one of five attached houses, and only it and its neighbor at No. 18 survive. Its most distinctive feature is a carved wooden cornice with scalloped pointed arches projecting from the facade. Other original details include the stoop's ornamental ironwork, a wooden door with quatrefoil and trefoil panels, and Gothic-detailed interior woodwork and plaster. Sculptor Emma Stebbins owned the house and lived there intermittently between 1854 and 1882. She became a professional sculptor in Rome and received the first public commission from New York City for a large work by a woman, the Angel of the Waters at Bethesda Fountain. The house was divided into apartments in the 1960s after earlier use as single-room occupancy housing, yet it keeps much of its historic plan.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Isaac Greene Pearson, architect; John Sniffen, carpenter; Samuel McCorkle, mason; Nathaniel Sawyer, plumber; J. Althouse, ironmonger; built for Thomas Oliver","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Gothic Revival","criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Currently used as multiple dwellings (apartments); the front facade needs repair on the west side after settling from the late-1980s demolition of No. 22.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:54.040416-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/07000484.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000484/7849f33a08-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000484/7849f33a08-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Americasroof at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20_West_16th_Street.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20_West_16th_Street.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319608","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_West_16th_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5755389"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/house-at-20-west-16th-st-07000484/"}