21 Stuyvesant Street | Block : 465 | Lot #29 Building Date : 1803 Original Use : Residential Original Owner : Elizabeth Stuyvesant & Nicholas Fish Original Architect : Peter Stuyvesant Description & Building Alterations This early-19th century Federal style house, the Elizabeth Stuyvesant and Nicholas Fish residence, is a magnificent example of the architectural traditions of fine urban dwellings in the in the early period of the Union. It is the oldest house in the area with a fully intact facade. Significant in size, the house is three bays wide and three and a half stories tall with a solidly built brownstone basement and a shallow doorway. The facade wall is brick laid in the characteristic Flemish bond pattern, the entry door is of a grand width with a wood and glass surround, and the double hung windows are topped with splayed stone lintels. A simple white cornice underlies the sloped roof with twin arched dormer windows, exemplary of the Federal style. Furthermore, the house showcases a low brownstone stoop, brownstone sills and lintels, sidelights set off by slender columns, a semi-elliptical fanlight, and six-over-six windows.

Peter Stuyvesant built this house for his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Revolutionary War veteran Nicholas Fish. Their son, future Governor of New York, United States Senator, and Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, would be born in this house. This house is part of the St. Mark’s Historic District, designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1969.