Edward Mooney House

History and architecture

This is the only known town house surviving in Manhattan which dates from the period of the American Revolution. It was built between 1785 and 1789. The house stands on its original site, at the southeast corner of Pell Street and the Bowery, and its red brick facade above the street-floor level is in a remarkable good state of preservation. A brick extension, equalling the size of the original structure, was added in the 1800s.

The architectural style of the house is Early Federal, reflecting strongly its Georgian antecedents in construction, proportions and design details. It is three stories in height, with a finished garret beneath a gambrel roof. Two features of special note which verify the documented age of the building are the hand-hewn timbers framing the roof and the broad width of the front windows in proportion to their height. On the exterior, original splayed stone lintels with double keystone blocks are above most of the windows. At the gable end of the house, which can be viewed from Pell Street, the garrett floor is lighted by a central round-headed window.

Edward Mooney, a merchant, purchased the land on which this house stands in 1785 from the Commissioners of Forfeiture in the sale of the property of James Delancey, who remained loyal to the British Crown during the Revolution. Mooney was an important figure in the wholesale meat business and represented the City's butchers in the Society of Mechanics and Tradesman. The town house he erected and in which he resided until his death about 1800, is a unique example of the domestic architecture which flourished in Manhattan two centuries ago.