Van Rensselar, Stephen, House
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Built in 1816, this 2½-story frame house at 149 Mulberry Street in Manhattan has a brick facade laid in Flemish bond, a high gambrel roof and two dormer windows. It was moved in 1841 from 153 Mulberry Street to its present site. The brownstone stoop, belt course, sills and lintels remain, along with the original iron stoop railings. The parlor floor has been heavily altered for commercial use and is currently a restaurant, while the upper-floor apartments keep much of their original floors, doors and woodwork. The house is considered an extremely rare survivor of braced frame wooden construction in New York City, a method used through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and into the early nineteenth. Wooden houses were later barred from densely settled areas as fire hazards. It was also the townhouse of Stephen Van Rensselaer, the last of the Dutch Patroons, whose family's feudal land holdings along the Hudson ended after the Anti-Rent War.
Significance in brief: The house is an extremely rare surviving example of braced frame wooden construction in New York City, a type once common but largely lost after wooden houses were banned in dense areas. It is also tied to Stephen Van Rensselaer, "the last of the Patroons," whose family's estate was ended by the Anti-Rent War.
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 83001751, listed June 16, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 149 Mulberry St., New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | June 16, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83001751 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | unknown |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Parlor floor used commercially and currently a restaurant; upper floors contain apartments and retain much original material. Condition listed as good, altered and moved. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District |
| Coordinates | 40.71905, -73.99758 (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 83001751.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q11680577
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.