# Single family houses in Manhattan **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147 "2007-04-08T01:33:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/1 "2007-04-08T01:33:51Z")
Even in the largest American cities, a large number of households have single family dwellings that are physically seperate from other houses and have lawns. However, on TV shows and press accounts I’ve never noticed these mentioned for families in Manhattan. Even high income families seem to just get bigger and fancier condos or brownstones. Are there any single family houses in Manhattan, and how many? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/2 "2007-04-08T02:01:44Z")
[They do exist in some fashion but most of them are really townhouses rather than traditional houses with lawns.](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E7D61339F937A15752C1A963958260) Manhattan is an island with some of the most expensive real estate on earth. There isn’t that much space to go around so any such houses would tend to be destroyed and the space used for something more valuable. Of course, the other parts of New York City have regular single-family houses so it isn’t like the whole city is that way. ---
**Author:** ![citybadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@citybadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citybadger)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/3 "2007-04-08T02:07:17Z")
If there are any lawns, they will be in the back rather than the front an not visible at all from the street. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/4 "2007-04-08T02:32:51Z")
Not to say that none of them exist (maybe up in Riverside) but they are very, very rare. There are a lot in Queens, Staten Island, areas of the Bronx and areas of Brooklyn. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/5 "2007-04-08T03:43:10Z")
I don’t think you’ll find any single-family, detached houses on the island of Manhattan, even in Riverside, except for the occasional landmark like Gracie Mansion. There _are_ a few to be found on Ward’s Island, which is part of the Borough of Manhattan, along with Roosevelt Island and a few other rocks in the river. There are plenty of houses in the other four boroughs; and much of Staten Island is quite suburban. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/6 "2007-04-08T04:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > There are a few to be found on Ward’s Island, which is part of the Borough of Manhattan, along with Roosevelt Island and a few other rocks in the river. Governors Island had a number of single family homes. I guess technically it still does although they’re no longer occupied. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/7 "2007-04-08T05:26:26Z")
[Marble Hill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Hill%2C_Manhattan), the northernmost point of Manhattan, has 138 detached, single-family homes, most of them built before World War I. [Photo gallery](http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-city0330-pg,0,2728267.photogallery). [Aerial view](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Marble+Hill,+Manhattan&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=75.50708,92.988281&layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=18&ll=40.876636,-73.91115&spn=0.002275,0.002838&t=h). ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/8 "2007-04-08T13:08:10Z")
I live up here, in [Inwood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inwood%2C_Manhattan). Next to my apartment building are half a dozen single family houses. My area of Manhattan was essentially farmland until after WWI, so the remaining detached homes were once almost exclusively farmhouses. From the wiki cite: > [@](#): > > Inwood is one of the few neighborhoods on Manhattan Island that still has a few detached houses (as opposed to the apartment houses, brownstones and townhouses that predominate in other residential areas of Manhattan). There are also a few detached homes in Washington Heights. The house next to my building went for $1.1M. Good gravy, in a few years one of those suckers is going to be all mine. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/9 "2007-04-08T13:25:59Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] [Marble Hill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Hill%2C_Manhattan), the northernmost point of Manhattan, has 138 detached, single-family homes, most of them built before World War I. [Photo gallery](http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-city0330-pg,0,2728267.photogallery). [Aerial view](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Marble+Hill,+Manhattan&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=75.50708,92.988281&layer=&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=18&ll=40.876636,-73.91115&spn=0.002275,0.002838&t=h). [/QUOTE] Technically not the northernmost point of Manhattan, (note the river seperating it from the rest of the island) but the northernmost point of New York County. ---
**Author:** ![yahwc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/aeb1de/32.png) [@yahwc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yahwc)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/10 "2007-04-08T13:53:04Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] Technically not the northernmost point of Manhattan, (note the river seperating it from the rest of the island) but the northernmost point of New York County. [/QUOTE] I believe that the “Boro of Manhattan” contains territory that is not part of Manhattan Island. For example, Roosevelt Island is (as far as I know) part of New York County and the Boro of Manhattan. In common parlance, if somebody lives on Roosevelt Island, they wouldn’t say that they live in Manhattan. Conversely, Manhattan Island contains the U.N. headquarters which are technically international territory and arguably not part of the Boro of Manhattan or New York County. ---
**Author:** ![Spiral\_Stairs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Spiral\_Stairs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiral_Stairs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/11 "2007-04-08T14:02:30Z")
A law school professor of mine owned [this free-standing house](http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UWS/UWS047.htm). I was told that it is the largest free-standing house in Manhattan, although I don’t see that fact in that link. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/12 "2007-04-08T14:15:13Z")
[QUOTE=Spiral Stairs] A law school professor of mine owned [this free-standing house](http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UWS/UWS047.htm). I was told that it is the largest free-standing house in Manhattan, although I don’t see that fact in that link. [/QUOTE] This house was on the market late last year for $40M. Not sure whether or not it sold. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/13 "2007-04-08T14:39:05Z")
There was an article about the Schinasi Mansion in the New York Times last week that said the asking price was dropped to $20 million. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/14 "2007-04-08T15:28:22Z")
Science fiction writer Robert Silverberg once lived in a single-family house in Manhattan. > [@](#): > > Early in 1962 I had purchased an imposing house - a mansion, in fact, in a lovely, almost rural enclave near the northwest corner of New York City. I had always lived in apartments; now I joined the landed classes, and had my own lawn and garden, my own giant oak trees, my own wild raccoons wander about at night (in New York!) This was in the insane period in which he was writing 36 soft-core porn novels a year in addition to his regular writing. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/15 "2007-04-08T18:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=yahwc] I believe that the “Boro of Manhattan” contains territory that is not part of Manhattan Island. For example, Roosevelt Island is (as far as I know) part of New York County and the Boro of Manhattan. In common parlance, if somebody lives on Roosevelt Island, they wouldn’t say that they live in Manhattan. [/QUOTE] The Borough (not Boro) of Manhattan is coterminous with New York County. The Borough contains the island of Manhattan, plus Roosevelt Island, Governors Island, Randall’s Island, Ward’s Island, Marble Hill, and some other stuff that I’ve probably forgotten. Marble Hill _used_ to be a part of the island of Manhattan until the Harlem River was diverted slightly. > [@](#): > > Conversely, Manhattan Island contains the U.N. headquarters which are technically international territory and arguably not part of the Boro of Manhattan or New York County. The UN site is no more “international territory” than the Portuguese consulate is. The site is subject to treaty obligations regarding financing, taxes and investigative jurisdiction, but it is most certainly part of the city and the borough. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/16 "2007-04-08T19:59:50Z")
A good realtor will never admit they don’t have the house you’re looking for. I was doing some online research on this thread and I found a real estate search engine. You could punch in locations, price ranges, and features you were looking for. As a joke, I searched for family residences in Manhattan where you could keep horses. And the search insisted there were six such places on the market. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/17 "2007-04-08T20:08:18Z")
[Horseback riding in New York City](http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_horseback_riding.html). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/18 "2007-04-09T05:09:23Z")
I’ve mentioned this before, in another thread. Many years ago I worked in an office building in Manhattan, I think in the '20s. From our windows we could look down onto the roof of a shorter office building. On the roof of that building was a very suburban-type house, and the entire roof, outside the house, was landscaped with a lawn, shrubs, etc. There may even have been trees. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/19 "2007-04-09T10:59:28Z")
This site, [Forgotten New York](http://forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/marblehill/marble.html), has more pictures, etc. about Marble Hill… The rest of the site is fascinating, too… ---
**Author:** ![yahwc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/aeb1de/32.png) [@yahwc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yahwc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147/20 "2007-04-09T12:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] The Borough (not Boro) of Manhattan is coterminous with New York County. The Borough contains the island of Manhattan, plus Roosevelt Island, Governors Island, Randall’s Island, Ward’s Island, Marble Hill, and some other stuff that I’ve probably forgotten. Marble Hill _used_ to be a part of the island of Manhattan until the Harlem River was diverted slightly. [/quote] For a while, it was a little unclear whether Marble Hill was in Bronx County or New York County. I believe that issue has been resolved. In any event, when somebody makes a statement about Manhattan real estate, it’s usually understood that they are referring to the island of Manhattan. > [@](#): > > The UN site is no more “international territory” than the Portuguese consulate is. The site is subject to treaty obligations regarding financing, taxes and investigative jurisdiction, but it is most certainly part of the city and the borough. The UN web site claims that it’s international territory: > [@](#): > > When you pass through the gates of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, you enter international territory. The 18-acre site extends from 42nd Street to 48th Street, and from First Avenue to the East River. > > The land does not belong to just one country, but to all countries that have joined the Organization. The United Nations has its own security and fire forces, issues its own postage stamps and conducts business in its six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. [http://www.un.org/tours/pages/wv.htm#inter](http://www.un.org/tours/pages/wv.htm#inter) But maybe it’s BS, like certain other claims made by the UN. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-family-houses-in-manhattan/399147.md?page=2)