Grace Memorial House

History and architecture

This handsome Gothic style building is one of the finest in the City. It is an integral part of a picturesque group of buildings, all designed in similar style, that form part of the Grace Church complex, and it is an essential terminal point, of the vista obtained ay looking west on 11th Street toward Fourth Avenue in New York, few structures remain which provide such terminal features; Grand Central Station at the head of Park Avenue, the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue at the and of East 82nd Street; and the New York public Library at the end of East 41st Street are among the notable examples which come to mind.

The Grace Church, complex is located on a portion, of the old Brevoert Farm. The Brevoerts were an old Knickerbocker family,, established in the city since 1673, The farm was bounded roughly by the area between 12th and 13th Streets and Fourth to Sixth Avenues. The existence today of a long block, running from 19th to 12th Streets, between Broadway and Fourth Avenue, is due entirely to the stubbornness of Henry Brevoert.

When the City attempted to cut through 11th street, in accordance with the Commissioners' Plan of 1807, ha refused to vacate or remove his farmhouse, which stood on the west side of Fourth Avenue in the line of 11th Street. Successive ordinances were passed— to no avail—and so the effort to cut through the property was finally abandoned. In the last analysis, we owe the closed vista where Fourth Avenue meets 11th Street to Henry Brevoert.