Designated: December 21, 1982
*The 17 East 128th Street House is one of a few surviving frame houses in Harlem
which date from the period in the city’s history when Harlem was still a rural village
and not legally part of the City of New York. Constructed circa 1864, this house was
once one of many similarly styled. framed houses that were built in Harlem at roughly
that same time, particularly between 110th Street and 130th Street. Although its
architect is unknown, the house exemplifies a pleasing synthesis of Second Empire and
Italianate elements. Among its more prominent features are a polychromatic, slate
covered, mansard roof and a covered porch which runs the width of the facade at the
parlor floor level.
*Excerpt from the Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Report
