History and architecture
This house is one of six Federal houses which compose a group that is unique in New York City. Nowhere else is there a survival of this many houses of this style - all of which retain their original pitched roofs and dormers. The fact that they wrap around a corner, showing a distinctive gable-end profile, also makes this group one-of-a-kind in the City today.
When these houses were built, they were refreshingly close to the river. The land on which this house stands was originally part of the well-known farm of Annetje Jans. The Dutch Director General, Van Twiller, had granted it in 1636 to her and her first husband, who were both Scandinavian born On this farm of sixty-two acres extending between the present Chambers and Canal Streets, they constructed a building on a point at the then Hudson River shoreline between the present Harrison, Jay, Washington and West Streets, in the block immediately west of 329 Washington Street.
After the death of her husband Annetje Jans married the minister of the province, Dominie Bogardus, and the farm became known as the Dominie's Bowery. Annetje's heirs sold it in 1671 to Col . Francis Lovelace, the English Governor of the province, but three years later he lost it to the crown in the satisfaction of a debt. Meanwhile the Dutch province had been granted by the English King to his brother, the Duke of York, who later became James II, King of England.
He was succeeded on the throne by Queen Anne. Hence, Annetje Jans' bowery came to be known successively as the Duke's Farm, the King's Farm, and the Queen's Farm. In 1705 Queen Anne gave it by patent to Trinity Church. This portion of the farm was leased for ninety-nine years, in 1765, and became also the site of Hanson's Brewery: "the most commodious and complete of any in America." Philip Rhine lander bought the complex in 1793 and the Brewery then became known as Rhine lander's.
After the death of William Rhinelander the property was sold in 1827 by the executors of his estate. 329 Washington Street was built in 1828 as were the two matching houses at Nos. 327 and 331 Washington Street.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.