The property that became Patchin Place was once part of a farm belonging to Sir Peter Warren. In 1799 it was sold to Samuel Milligan, who later conveyed it to his son-in-law, Aaron Patchin.[4] The buildings that now occupy the site were put up in 1848[1] or 1849.[2] Many guide books say the buildings were intended to be boarding houses for Basque waiters and other workers at the Brevoort House hotel on Fifth Avenue, but the Brevoort was not built until 1855.[5] The rooms were small, and at the time, the street was noisy due to its proximity to the vendors in Jefferson Market.[6]
The 1917 book about Greenwich Village in which this illustration first appeared described Patchin Place as "one of the strange little 'lost courts' given over to the Villagers and their pursuits".[7]
In the early 20th century, Patchin Place became popular with writers and artists, with its small residences, that were apart from but still accessible to the cafe life of the Village. Indoor plumbing, electricity, and steam heat were added in 1917.[8] In 1920, Grace I. Patchin Stuart, the last remaining member of the Patchin family, sold the property to the Land Map Realty Corporation, and the houses were converted into small apartments.[9]E. E. Cummings moved in three years later; he wrote that "the topfloorback room at 4 Patchin Place ... meant Safety & Peace & the truth of Dreaming & the bliss of Work".[10]
In 1929 the gate at the entrance was added and nearby Jefferson Market prison was torn down, as Patchin Place resident John Cowper Powys noted in a letter to his brother:[11]
They've gone and put up iron gates at the entrance to Patchin Place — in the middle of the entrance — leaving the little openings by the new brick posts free. And they've pulled down the Prison — but so far not the Clock tower. In the foundations of this fallen Bastille, from where of so many Sundays we heard the imprisoned Baggages sing about heaven, is an iron clutcher with a dragonish dew-lap scooping earth and hissing with a steamy vibrant roar. I am deaf of one ear — but this noise is very strident. But do you know we can now see the Woolworth tower and also the Singer Tower from the entrance of Patchin Place....
The clock tower that Powys refers to is Jefferson Market Court, now a library branch. Berenice Abbott photographed the view of the tower above Patchin Place in 1937.[8]
The modernist writer Djuna Barnes, a friend of Abbott's, moved into a room-and-a-half apartment at #5 Patchin Place in 1941. She had lived in Greenwich Village in the 1910s and had been in the audience when residents organized a performance of William Butler Yeats's play The King's Threshold in the courtyard of Patchin Place as a war benefit, but had spent most of the 1920s and 30s in Europe.[12] After her return to New York she became so reclusive that Cummings would occasionally check on her by shouting out his window "Are you still alive, Djuna?"[13] Yet in 1963, when a developer proposed to tear down the houses on Patchin and nearby Milligan Place in order to put up a high-rise apartment building, she left her apartment to tell a protest meeting that she would die if she had to move, and, less helpfully, that the destruction of the neighborhood would leave local youths with nowhere to practice their mugging.[14] Community activists, led by future mayor Ed Koch, succeeded in saving Patchin Place, and in 1969 it became landmarked[8] with the creation of the Greenwich Village Historic District.[1] Though she complained about "writing amid the roaring of plumbing, howling of downstairs dog, thumping of small child on elephant's feet",[15] Barnes remained in residence until her death in 1982.
Present dayedit
Patchin Place street sign
Patchin Place remains physically almost unchanged. It even retains its 19th-century gas street lamp—one of only two in New York City, and the only one that still gives light, though the light is now electric.[16] Usage has changed, however: the same privacy that had once attracted writers and artists also appealed to psychotherapists, who began to locate there in the 1990s, transforming the street into what one psychologist called "therapy row". As of 2003, Patchin Place was home to about 35 residents and 15 therapists' offices.[3]
In March 2022, investment firm Firebird Grove bought all 11 buildings in Patchin Place from Morgan Holding Capital for just over $32 million.[17]
^ abcKoeppel, David (2003). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^Hemp, William H. (2003). New York Enclaves. New York: Clarkson Potter. p. 30. ISBN1-4000-4735-8.
^Gray, Christopher (March 1, 1992). "Streetscapes: Readers' Questions; A J.P. Morgan Brownstone and a Hospital for Italians". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^ abVincent, Glyn (2003). The Unknown Night: The Genius and Madness of R. A. Blakelock, an American Painter. New York, NY: Grove Press. pp. 46–63. ISBN0-8021-4064-5.
^Chapin, Anna Alice (2005). Greenwich Village. Project Gutenberg.
^ abc. Museum of the City of New York. Archived from the original on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^"Modern Progress in Patchin Place: Quaint Plot in New Hands After Family Ownership of One Hundred Years". The New York Times. May 2, 1920. pp. RE1.
^"Patchin Place, 1925". [home page of SPRING: The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society]. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
^Powys, John Cowper. Letters to His Brother Llewellyn. Quoted in "4 Patchin Place". [powys-lannion.net]. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^Field, Andrew (1985). Djuna: The Formidable Miss Barnes. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 230–231. ISBN0-292-71546-3.
^Herring, Phillip (1995). Djuna: The Life and Work of Djuna Barnes. New York: Penguin Books. p. 309. ISBN0-14-017842-2.
^Levine, Nancy J. (1993). "Works in Progress: the Uncollected Poetry of Barnes's Patchin Place Period". The Review of Contemporary Fiction. 13 (3): 186–200.
^"Alleys of Greenwich Village". Forgotten NY. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^"Greenwich Village Cul-De-Sac Sells for $32M". The Real Deal New York. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
^ ab"Old Patchin Place Loses Weidee, Its Guiding Hand". The New York Times. May 18, 1924. pp. X4.
^Bosworth, Patricia (2001). Marlon Brando. New York, N.Y: Viking. pp. 14. ISBN0-670-88236-4.
^ abcSeeger, Pete; Bruce Kayton (2003). Radical Walking Tours of New York City. New York: Seven Stories Press. pp. 34, 41–42. ISBN1-58322-554-4.
^New York World-Telegram and The Sun, Jan. 4, 1962, p. 23. Patchin Pl.: Quiet Refuge for Writers
^Hersey, Harold (1937). Pulpwood Editor. New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes Company.
^"NEW YORK BOOKSHELF/NONFICTION; How Chinese Were Depicted, How Cummings Took His Tea". The New York Times. September 22, 2002. pp. section 14, page 10. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^Keith, W. J. (December 2005). "John Cowper Powys's Autobiography: A Reader's Companion". [Aids to the Reading of John Cowper Powys]. p. 84. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
^Walsh, Kevin (2006). Forgotten New York: Views of a Lost Metropolis. London: Collins. pp. 157. ISBN0-06-114502-5.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patchin Place (Manhattan).
— photographs of Patchin Place in 1937 and 1997
Forgotten New York — photographs and information
January 01, 1970
patchin, place, 73499, 99931, 73499, 99931, 2011, gated, located, 10th, street, between, greenwich, avenue, avenue, americas, sixth, avenue, greenwich, village, neighborhood, manhattan, york, city, story, brick, houses, said, have, been, originally, built, hou. 40 44 06 N 73 59 58 W 40 73499 N 73 99931 W 40 73499 73 99931 Patchin Place in 2011 Patchin Place is a gated cul de sac located off of 10th Street between Greenwich Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas Sixth Avenue in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan New York City Its ten 3 story 1 brick row houses said to have been originally built as housing for the Basque staff of the nearby Brevoort House hotel 2 have been home to several famous writers including Theodore Dreiser E E Cummings John Cowper Powys and Djuna Barnes making it a stop on Greenwich Village walking tours Today it is a popular location for psychotherapists offices 3 Contents 1 History 2 Present day 3 Notable residents 4 References 5 External linksHistory editThe property that became Patchin Place was once part of a farm belonging to Sir Peter Warren In 1799 it was sold to Samuel Milligan who later conveyed it to his son in law Aaron Patchin 4 The buildings that now occupy the site were put up in 1848 1 or 1849 2 Many guide books say the buildings were intended to be boarding houses for Basque waiters and other workers at the Brevoort House hotel on Fifth Avenue but the Brevoort was not built until 1855 5 The rooms were small and at the time the street was noisy due to its proximity to the vendors in Jefferson Market 6 nbsp The 1917 book about Greenwich Village in which this illustration first appeared described Patchin Place as one of the strange little lost courts given over to the Villagers and their pursuits 7 In the early 20th century Patchin Place became popular with writers and artists with its small residences that were apart from but still accessible to the cafe life of the Village Indoor plumbing electricity and steam heat were added in 1917 8 In 1920 Grace I Patchin Stuart the last remaining member of the Patchin family sold the property to the Land Map Realty Corporation and the houses were converted into small apartments 9 E E Cummings moved in three years later he wrote that the topfloorback room at 4 Patchin Place meant Safety amp Peace amp the truth of Dreaming amp the bliss of Work 10 In 1929 the gate at the entrance was added and nearby Jefferson Market prison was torn down as Patchin Place resident John Cowper Powys noted in a letter to his brother 11 They ve gone and put up iron gates at the entrance to Patchin Place in the middle of the entrance leaving the little openings by the new brick posts free And they ve pulled down the Prison but so far not the Clock tower In the foundations of this fallen Bastille from where of so many Sundays we heard the imprisoned Baggages sing about heaven is an iron clutcher with a dragonish dew lap scooping earth and hissing with a steamy vibrant roar I am deaf of one ear but this noise is very strident But do you know we can now see the Woolworth tower and also the Singer Tower from the entrance of Patchin Place The clock tower that Powys refers to is Jefferson Market Court now a library branch Berenice Abbott photographed the view of the tower above Patchin Place in 1937 8 The modernist writer Djuna Barnes a friend of Abbott s moved into a room and a half apartment at 5 Patchin Place in 1941 She had lived in Greenwich Village in the 1910s and had been in the audience when residents organized a performance of William Butler Yeats s play The King s Threshold in the courtyard of Patchin Place as a war benefit but had spent most of the 1920s and 30s in Europe 12 After her return to New York she became so reclusive that Cummings would occasionally check on her by shouting out his window Are you still alive Djuna 13 Yet in 1963 when a developer proposed to tear down the houses on Patchin and nearby Milligan Place in order to put up a high rise apartment building she left her apartment to tell a protest meeting that she would die if she had to move and less helpfully that the destruction of the neighborhood would leave local youths with nowhere to practice their mugging 14 Community activists led by future mayor Ed Koch succeeded in saving Patchin Place and in 1969 it became landmarked 8 with the creation of the Greenwich Village Historic District 1 Though she complained about writing amid the roaring of plumbing howling of downstairs dog thumping of small child on elephant s feet 15 Barnes remained in residence until her death in 1982 Present day edit nbsp Patchin Place street sign Patchin Place remains physically almost unchanged It even retains its 19th century gas street lamp one of only two in New York City and the only one that still gives light though the light is now electric 16 Usage has changed however the same privacy that had once attracted writers and artists also appealed to psychotherapists who began to locate there in the 1990s transforming the street into what one psychologist called therapy row As of 2003 Patchin Place was home to about 35 residents and 15 therapists offices 3 In March 2022 investment firm Firebird Grove bought all 11 buildings in Patchin Place from Morgan Holding Capital for just over 32 million 17 Notable residents editDjuna Barnes 5 1941 1982 Ralph Albert Blakelock 1 1853 1861 as a child 6 Randolph Bourne 18 Marlon Brando ca 1943 while rooming with his sister Jocelyn 19 William Brinkley Louise Bryant 1 with John Reed 20 E E Cummings 4 1923 1962 Theodore Dreiser 3 Vincent Glinsky 9 1951 1975 21 Alyse Gregory 18 Cleo Hartwig 9 1951 1988 Anthony Harvey 9 Harold Hersey 22 John Howard Lawson 16 years 20 John Masefield 23 John Cowper Powys 4 1923 1929 24 25 Charles Platt 9 1970 published The Patchin Review John Reed 1 with Louise Bryant began writing Ten Days That Shook the World there 20 26 References editNotes a b c New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission NYCLPC Greenwich Village Historic District Designation Report volume 1 Archived 2017 02 12 at the Wayback Machine NYCLPC 1969 a b White Norval amp Willensky Elliot 2000 AIA Guide to New York City 4th ed New York Three Rivers Press ISBN 978 0 8129 3107 5 p 131 a b c Koeppel David 2003 A Bastion of Literature Is a Bulwark for Therapy The New York Times Archived from the original on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2007 06 24 Hemp William H 2003 New York Enclaves New York Clarkson Potter p 30 ISBN 1 4000 4735 8 Gray Christopher March 1 1992 Streetscapes Readers Questions A J P Morgan Brownstone and a Hospital for Italians The New York Times Retrieved 2007 06 24 a b Vincent Glyn 2003 The Unknown Night The Genius and Madness of R A Blakelock an American Painter New York NY Grove Press pp 46 63 ISBN 0 8021 4064 5 Chapin Anna Alice 2005 Greenwich Village Project Gutenberg a b c Berenice Abbott Patchin Place Museum of the City of New York Archived from the original on 2007 07 10 Retrieved 2007 06 24 Modern Progress in Patchin Place Quaint Plot in New Hands After Family Ownership of One Hundred Years The New York Times May 2 1920 pp RE1 Patchin Place 1925 home page of SPRING The Journal of the E E Cummings Society Retrieved 2007 06 25 Powys John Cowper Letters to His Brother Llewellyn Quoted in 4 Patchin Place powys lannion net Retrieved 2007 06 24 Field Andrew 1985 Djuna The Formidable Miss Barnes Austin University of Texas Press pp 230 231 ISBN 0 292 71546 3 Herring Phillip 1995 Djuna The Life and Work of Djuna Barnes New York Penguin Books p 309 ISBN 0 14 017842 2 Field 22 236 Levine Nancy J 1993 Works in Progress the Uncollected Poetry of Barnes s Patchin Place Period The Review of Contemporary Fiction 13 3 186 200 Alleys of Greenwich Village Forgotten NY Retrieved 2007 06 24 Greenwich Village Cul De Sac Sells for 32M The Real Deal New York 2022 03 16 Retrieved 2022 03 19 a b Old Patchin Place Loses Weidee Its Guiding Hand The New York Times May 18 1924 pp X4 Bosworth Patricia 2001 Marlon Brando New York N Y Viking pp 14 ISBN 0 670 88236 4 a b c Seeger Pete Bruce Kayton 2003 Radical Walking Tours of New York City New York Seven Stories Press pp 34 41 42 ISBN 1 58322 554 4 New York World Telegram and The Sun Jan 4 1962 p 23 Patchin Pl Quiet Refuge for Writers Hersey Harold 1937 Pulpwood Editor New York NY Frederick A Stokes Company NEW YORK BOOKSHELF NONFICTION How Chinese Were Depicted How Cummings Took His Tea The New York Times September 22 2002 pp section 14 page 10 Retrieved 2007 06 24 4 Patchin Place powys lannion net Retrieved 2007 06 24 Keith W J December 2005 John Cowper Powys s Autobiography A Reader s Companion Aids to the Reading of John Cowper Powys p 84 Retrieved 2007 06 24 Walsh Kevin 2006 Forgotten New York Views of a Lost Metropolis London Collins pp 157 ISBN 0 06 114502 5 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patchin Place Manhattan New York Changing photographs of Patchin Place in 1937 and 1997 Forgotten New York photographs and information Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Patchin Place amp oldid 1217469252, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
