Sniffen Court Historic District

Sniffen Court is a narrow, blind alley off East 36th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues in Manhattan, lined with ten two-story brick buildings. They began in the 1860s as stables for families living in the Murray Hill district. John Sniffen, a local builder, was retained by four developers who took four standard 25-by-100-foot lots and rearranged them into ten lots sharing access to an alley. The buildings follow the vernacular methods of local masons and carpenters. Each originally had a wide rounded carriage arch with a limestone keystone. Some arches have since been filled with brick, and doorways and windows vary. When carriages became less common, the stables were made over into homes. Later uses included a small amateur theatre and an architect's office. The south end of the court is closed by the wall of sculptor Malvina Hoffman's studio, decorated with plaques of Greek horsemen. The district was valued for its well-preserved exteriors, its charm and its picture of nineteenth-century city life.