[2][3] The red brick Federal two-story-over-raised-basement townhouse with a dormer attic was built in 1834 by David Christie, a stone cutter, for about $2,600.

"These residences of the 1820s were almost all builder's, carpenter's, or stonemason's homes, and there were several blocks of them at one time.

In 1899 Montgomery Schuyler, the critic, wrote that they were 'the most respectable and artistic pattern of habitation New York has ever known.'"

[4] At least until 1971, when the property was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, the trim was white and many original interior features of the house remained.

From 1959 to 1968, the photographer Diane Arbus lived in the former stable behind the main house at 131 Charles St.