Buildings of the South Village*
Glossary of Building Types:
Federal: A rowhouse built in the Federal style, prevalent in NYC from the late-18th century through about the mid-1830s; typical features are Flemish bond
brickwork, a low stoop, and dormer windows.
Federal/Greek Revival (transitional): A rowhouse with both Federal and Greek Revival elements, generally built in the 1830s as the Federal style waned
and the Greek Revival style was ascendant.
French Flats: Multiple-family dwellings typically built in late nineteenth century that, unlike tenements, were geared towards the middle and upper classes
and included such amenities as windows in every room, modern kitchens and bathrooms, and servants’ quarters.
Greek Revival: A rowhouse built in the Greek Revival style which typically dates from the 1830s through the early 1850s. Typical Greek Revival features
include running bond brick work and a monumental stoop and doorway.
Institutional, civic: A building built for a civic institution, like a library, police station, fire station, etc.
Institutional, educational: A building built for a school, university, or other educational entity.
Institutional, religious: A building built for a religious institution, like a church, synagogue, rectory, chapel, etc.
Institutional, social service: A building built for an institution providing social services, like a settlement house, bathhouse, hospital, etc.
Joined: Tenements originally built as separate buildings but which were later combined, usually when they were upgraded, to attract higher-paying tenants
and to create great interior and/or exterior common space. See Upgraded.
Loft: A building built for manufacturing, storage, or other industrial purposes.
Lot: A parcel that contains no habitable buildings.
Reform Housing: Housing built in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries by individuals or institutions that were concerned with the substandard housing conditions in the speculatively-built tenements of New York City. Developers of reform housing only made a limited profit and
constructed model tenements and other forms of housing that provided sanitary apartments for the working class.
Taxpayer: A low-rise building that was typically constructed to earn enough revenue for a building owner to be able to pay his taxes.
Tenement: A multi-unit building speculatively constructed to house the working classes and usually built from the mid-nineteenth century until the early
decades of the twentieth century. Typically, tenements crammed the maximum amount of legally permissible space onto their lots and the maximum
number of housing into the building. Tenements did not have elevators and often originally did not have running water or bathrooms.
Pre Law Tenement: A tenement built prior to the passage of the Tenement House Act of 1879. With no laws regulating the physical form of these
buildings, the living conditions were substandard, with dark, windowless, interior rooms and toilets outside in the rear yard.
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003
212-495-9585 www.gvshp.org
i
Buildings of the South Village*
Tenement, Old Law: A tenement constructed after the passage of the Tenement House Act of 1879 but before the passage of the Tenement
House Act of 1901. The 1879 law was the first to govern the physical form of tenements, and it required that all rooms in an apartment contain a
window. The result of such regulations was the creation of interior light shafts, which most frequently resulted in a floor plan resembling a
dumbbell. Thus, old law tenements are often referred to as dumbbell tenements.
New Law Tenement: A tenement built after the Tenement House Act of 1901. New law tenements have apartments with more light and air and
better living conditions than their predecessors and were built with toilets in each apartment.
Tenementized: A building not originally built for multifamily housing, typically a rowhouse, that was converted in the mid to late nineteenth century or early
twentieth century into tenement use. Tenementized rowhouses were often raised in height, and fire escapes were typically added to the façade.
Upgraded: A tenement or tenementized rowhouse that was upgraded in the early decades of the twentieth century in order to appeal to the artistic, middle,
or professional classes and to charge more rent. Upgraded tenements/rowhouses were typically altered on the exterior in a manner that reflected the
designs of the era, and studio windows were frequently added to upgraded rowhouses. It was common for upgraded buildings to also be joined together.
See Joined.
*New research about the buildings is being uncovered everyday, and this spreadsheet is regularly updated when new information is found.
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003
212-495-9585 www.gvshp.org
ii