Hopper, Isaac T., House
Also known as: Women's Prison Association Building
Why it's listed
Built around 1840, this brick rowhouse at 110 Second Avenue in Manhattan's East Village is three and a half stories high and three bays wide. It has a high brownstone stoop, a portico with paired Ionic columns, six-over-six windows, a wrought-iron balcony and a dentiled wooden cornice. Inside, the original layout survives, with nineteen rooms, many marble mantels and window moldings that use an anthemion motif. The building was bought in 1874 by the Women's Prison Association, an organization founded to help women leaving prison. It became the Isaac T. Hopper Home, named for the Quaker abolitionist and penal reformer whose daughter, Abigail Hopper Gibbons, served as the group's first president. The association offered medical care, job training, basic education, job placement and religious counseling in a residential setting, and ran the first halfway house for women in the United States. The house is unusual in New York for its architectural integrity and for remaining in residential use without subdivision. It still serves as a halfway house.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is a rare, highly intact example of Greek Revival residential architecture in New York City, with its original floor plan and interior detail preserved. It is also tied to the Women's Prison Association, the first private organization in the United States devoted to rehabilitative services for women prisoners, which ran the first halfway house for women. The building has been in continuous residential use since 1874.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86001155, listed May 22, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 110 Second Ave., New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | May 22, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001155 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1840; 1874-1936 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and still in use as organization headquarters and a halfway house; condition rated good, with some alterations. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.72771, -73.98833 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86001155.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6077192
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.