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Behold, the 15 Oldest Houses For Sale in NYC Right Now

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New York City may have nothing on Europe when it comes to historic architecture, but compared to the rest of the country, things here can be pretty darn old. The age between one building and the next on a New York City block can span a century, and to prove it, we've picked through the 15 oldest houses for sale in New York City right now with the help of StreetEasy. Here's a hint about how old they get: the oldest house on this list is way older than Canada and lightbulbs, and was built the same year Thomas Jefferson died. Curious? Read your way through the list to find out just how old the oldest house on the market is.


15) Let's start here: the least-old house on this list was built in 1890. That's the same year that the Sherman Antitrust Act became U.S. law, Yosemite National Park was created, the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded, and the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred. 1890 is only 25 years after the culmination of the Civil War. Today the house at 10-49 49 Avenue is asking $5.8 million. [StreetEasy]


14) Since it was built in 1880—the same year Wabash, Indiana became the first city in the world to be powered by electricity—the townhouse at 139 West 10th Street has served as a residence, a tavern, and a restaurant. It's since been landmarked, and is asking $8.99 million. [StreetEasy]


13) The same year Thomas Edison applied for his first patent—for an electronic vote recorder; it would be 11 years before the lightbulb was invented—this house was built at 94 Hicks Street. The 1868-built townhouse is currently divided into five apartments, and is asking $6.85 million. [StreetEasy]


12) Some things are better left in the past, especially if they're not cared for, like this townhouse at 189 East 7th Street. It looks like the $3.75 million house has had a rough 155 years, especially considering that the slightly terrifying bathroom is all the listing's willing to show. [StreetEasy]


11) When the Low Mansion at 3 Pierrepont Place came onto the market for an eye-popping $40 million in February, it became the priciest listing ever in Brooklyn. Although the townhouse is now divided into eight units, it was built in 1857 for businessman A.A. Low and his son Seth, who would later go on to be the mayor of Brooklyn—that is, when Brooklyn was still its own city.


10) To list a 158-year-old townhouse only with renderings seems like a not-so-deft of way of saying "This place needs a lot of work." After all, the $11 million house at 100 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights does hail from the year of the Dred Scott verdict. [StreetEasy]


9) The same year Millard Fillmore was elected president, this stunner of a house was built at 192 Columbia Heights. Of course back then in 1856, the house's view towards lower Manhattan from its place of prominence over the Brooklyn Heights Promenade was quite different, but nowadays it's one of the $15 million house's best amenities. [StreetEasy]


8) The oldest home for sale in Staten Island is none other than 1855's 2475 Richmond Road. The Gustav A. Meyer Mansion, named after its first owner, the creator of the beloved Nabisco sugar wafer, is now asking $1.74 million, down from $2.31 million. The house has been on the market since Halloween 2014—and the brokers say it's not haunted. Pshh. [StreetEasy]


7) The same year that New York City piano makers Steinway & Sons and San Francisco-based denim purveyors Levi Strauss first sold their goods to the world (1853), this house was built at 300 State Street. Now part of the National Register, this 25-foot-wide four-story home in Boerum Hill is asking $5.65 million. [StreetEasy]


6) 1850 was a big year in the United States: Los Angeles and San Francisco became incorporated cities, Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter, and Henry Wells and William Fargo went on to found a little something called American Express, which has probably at some point or another, in some capacity, been involved in the financing of this 165-year-old Brooklyn Heights house at 154A Hicks Street, now asking $6.1 million. [StreetEasy]


5) On the other side of the country, the California Gold Rush was raging on when this four-story townhouse at 304 West 4th Street was built in 1849. Today it's asking $6.795 million and is divided into two apartments plus an income suite. [StreetEasy]


4) The 21-foot-wide brick townhouse at 36 Commerce Street in Greenwich Village is asking $8.45 million, a numerical value that probably didn't even exist when it was built in 1841. This house was built the same year Dallas, Texas became a thing. [StreetEasy]


3) The former West Village carriage house at 230 West 10th Street has been on the market since 2013, but that's only a chip in its 181-year history. The same year the Whig Party was named by U.S. Senator Henry Clay, this three-story brick building was constructed. Nowadays it has six bedrooms, 5.5 baths, and wants $12.75 million. [StreetEasy]


2) The 22-foot-wide Greek Revival townhouse at 149 West 10th Street was built in 1833, the year Andrew Jackson became the first president of the Unites States to ride a train. Meanwhile, on West 10th Street, this home was being constructed by Senator Myndert Van Schaick (co-founder of nearby NYU) as one of ten in a row. In its 183rd year, the house is asking $15 million. [StreetEasy]


1) At 190 years old, 72 Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights is the oldest house on the market in New York City. To put the six-bedroom, three-bathroom home into context, it was built in 1826; that's before the Civil War (1861), and way before the Brooklyn Bridge (construction started in 1870). John Quincy Adams was president when someone slapped on its original wood siding. Nowadays it's asking $10.75 million, which converts to roughly $530,000 1826 dollars. Despite its age, it's been brought up-to-snuff and has modern conveniences like A/C. [StreetEasy]
· Inside 6 Lovely New York Landmarks That Almost Got Razed [Curbed]
· The Forgotten Developer Who Transformed 19th-Century New York [Curbed]
· History Lessons archive [Curbed]