{"nrhp_refnum":"92001081","name":"Melville, Herman, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2 114th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Troy","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.77327057600007,"lon":-73.67870327999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-08-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Literature"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A late-eighteenth century two and one-half story brick and wood dwelling at 2 114th Street (First Avenue) in the Lansingburgh section of Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, home of author Herman Melville from 1838 to 1847.","why_significant":"The residence is significant under Criterion B for its association with Herman Melville, who lived here during a formative stage of his writing career. He published his first sketches, went on his first sea voyages and began Mardi while based here. It is also significant under Criterion C for its Dutch-influenced eighteenth-century construction and later Victorian alterations.","narrative":"This late-eighteenth century house in the Lansingburgh neighborhood of Troy, New York, was the home of author Herman Melville and his family between 1838 and 1847. The two and one-half story building has a brick west wall laid in Dutch cross bond, wood-clad north and east walls, a broad gable roof and a hand-hewn timber frame visible in the basement and attic. Around 1872 the entrance was moved to the north side and Victorian features such as a porch, bracework and bay window were added. Despite these changes, the original floor plan can still be read, including the small second-floor room that served as Melville's writing studio, which keeps its scale and its view of the Hudson River. Melville's years here were formative: he published his first sketches, sailed on his first voyages and began writing Mardi. The house also illustrates an urban rowhouse type next to its older Dutch-style neighbor, and it sits within the surviving 1770s village plan.","period_of_significance":"c1786-1910","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Early Republic; Late Victorian","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Maintained and preserved by the Lansingburgh Historical Society; the rear wing was remodeled in the twentieth century into apartments.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:46.099582-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/92001081.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001081/05460b5bcd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001081/05460b5bcd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Midnightdreary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herman_Melville_House_-_Lansingburgh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Midnightdreary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herman_Melville_House_-_Lansingburgh.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100008651","name":"Central Lansingburgh Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/central-lansingburgh-historic-district-100008651/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321258","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville_House_(Troy,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5740045"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/melville-herman-house-92001081/"}