If I had to pick one house in Greenpoint to set a horror movie in it would be the big old house set back off the street at the corner of Oak and Guernsey streets. The red brick facade, spooky wooden double doors, cast iron railings at the building’s entrance, as well as the iron fence and gate at lawn’s edge all are original, dating to the house’s construction in 1887.
The house has a fascinating history and it is connected to an equally fascinating man who had the presidency of the United States stolen from him in 1876: Samuel Tilden. Tilden is probably one of the people who gets the least credit for making Greenpoint great. Tilden was an absolutely brilliant corporate lawyer who knew a good investment when he saw one. He bought a huge piece of land before the Civil War in Greenpoint that covered an area from Calyer Street to Milton and east to Leonard Street, including the land that St. Anthony’s church now sits on. Tilden did a lot for our state. He broke the corrupt Boss Tweed ring and helped write our state Constitution. In 1876 he really should have been elected president, but lost when his party, the Democrats, cut a dirty back room deal that ended reconstruction and sold him out.
Tilden was an extremely charitable man. He made millions and donated a lot of the money he made. He gave a huge gift that helped start our library system. His elegant home on Gramercy Park became the National Arts Club and he sold land at under market value to allow St. Anthony of Padua to build its church on Manhattan Avenue.
Tilden made a lot of money selling off his land in Greenpoint and felt that he had to give back to the community. In the late 1880s, Tilden hired the great German-American architect Theobald Engelhart to build a home for local indigent women at 137 Oak St. I’m a huge Engelhart fan because he built a lot of great other local buildings including the beautiful beaux arts bank on the corner of Franklin and Greenpoint and the beautiful Lutheran Church on Milton.
In the 19th century many older women ended up in poverty if their husbands died or if they did not have children. Realizing that older women were often poor, Tilden donated the building to Greenpoint in 1887. My friend, Gina Sheehan, remembers as a girl when the house still functioned for indigent women. She recalls that there was a real sense of sisterhood amongst the old ladies and described to me the communal effort of the ladies cooking together.
Today it’s a single occupancy residence building and the old women are long gone, but the house has changed little from the days when it was a haven for poor elderly women.
*This post was originally published on May 17, 2016.
Thanks Geoff for writing this! I always wondered about that house.
Wow im i greenpoint native and i was not aware of this . Thanks for sharing this peice of history .
Geoffrey,
When I worked for ” Red’s Moving and Trucking ” in 1974, we delivered mattresses to them. I remember it being quite dark inside.
Peter J. Choray
11/1/17
Cool
That’s a good one but I know of one better on McGuiness Blvd between Norman and meserole there was a house that we called the witches house..it was extremely scary in the night and you had a hard time seeing past all the trees and stuff..my mom had me take my communion photo in front of that scary house
Where exactly? Is it still there?
When my mom drove up to “ the Avenue” from Sutton St. to go to the Bank and do our other errands quite often we would park facing the house. It was spooky and mysterious to a 10 year old way back even on a bright sunny summer day in 1968!
Is that house still there and is it for sale
It is owned by Hassidic Jewish people now.
I doubt that. Hasidic Jewish people don’t do Halloween. And it’s got Halloween decorations up.
They have tenants.
I believe it’s just one tenant.
Not sure if it is for sale. But it is very much still their standing creepy looking as heck. Today 2 old vintage fridges laid on it’s lawn. Which confirms just how old this house is.
There are still a couple vintage fridges outside in the front yard. It looks abandoned. I would guess no one lives there. A Halloween sign on a tree in front says that it’s Haunted. I wonder if it’s known for being haunted or is the sign there because the place actually looks like a haunted house?
People definitely live there. I wandered onto the property cause the gate was open, and a dude came to the door and just looked at me and nodded until I left. I tried talking to him, but he seemed really standoffish.
I grew up in Greenpoint and walked to school every morning past that house. We called it the haunted house in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
My buddies and I would always challenge each other to walk up to the front door and knock. Only 1 guy had the nerve to walk up and open the door until he saw an elderly person standing in front of him.
Just went back to visit family and showed our daughter the house…she found it to be cool.
I think the little rascals had done some filming inside this house, back in the day and they usually filmed along west street area as well.
Where can I view this Little Rascals episode?
I stopped by there last evening and this older man in his late 50s/60s came walking out of the property with a bike. He saw me looking at the signs and he stated.. “Yes…This place really is haunted and ts actually made in 1886, the internet is wrong…” and I was startled..I said “oh , do you live here?….He quickly answered: “Yes…and there are ghosts…” He then got on his bike and starled pedaling and then looks back at me and says: “And I am a goblin.”…….and then drove off…. I was left a bit freaked the fxxk out.. What the hell is he talking about and he was dead serious when he stated this to me. Has anyone else heard this man say such things I. want to know why he said this to me.
Just pulling your leg to avoid the gawkers. A house this old may have spirits, but they aren’t riding bicycles
I said it because it’s true. I was the first caretaker of that wretched place back in 1887. Just to clarify, I never said goblin. I said that I am the last zombie left to roam those halls.
I grew up in Greenpoint and always loved this house. How I wish I could buy it and restore it to its former glory.