Houses at 157–165 East 78th Street

The row of five brick houses you are looking at represents a rare survival from the mid nineteenth century in a neighborhood that has otherwise been transformed by taller, newer construction. Built in 1861 by a developer named Henry Armstrong, these structures are the only remaining portion of an original group of eleven houses erected when this part of the city was first being opened for residential development. At the time, they were considered practical, speculative housing for commuters, designed to be more affordable than the grand brownstone mansions then being built elsewhere in Manhattan. Because of these humble beginnings and their reliance on brick rather than more expensive stone, they serve as a direct link to the early days of settlement in Yorkville, long before the area became defined by high-rise apartment buildings.