281 East Broadway House

History and architecture

This relatively modest Federal style rowhouse is a rare survivor of its type and era. Built about 1829 as one of a group of three for Isaac Ludlam, a New York City surveyor, the house occupies a twenty-foot wide lot on the south side of East Broadway, not far from the East River. Two-and-a-half stories high and three bays wide, the house has characteristic features of the Federal style including Flemish bond brickwork, brownstone lintels and sills at the window openings, and a sloping roof with two pedimented dormers containing arched window openings.

At the time the house was built, this was a fashionable residential district. Ludlam lived in the house from 1836 to 1853. Between 1864 and 1903, the house was owned and occupied by shoemaker George Leicht and his family. Leicht's shop was in the basement. Between 1909 and 1977, it was the home and offices of two different doctors. The house has been owned since 1977 by the Henry Street Settlement, which undertook renovation and restoration work on the house beginning in 1996. Thus, this house reveals through its architecture and its owners the rich and diverse history of the Lower East Side.