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COMMERCE STREET,
NOS. 39-41 Commerce Street,
variant image 1 Abbott lived in a 1912 loft on Commerce Street, a tiny L-shaped lane bordered by Bedford and Barrow Streets. This pair of "twin" houses, built in 1831 and 1832, were directly across the street from her home and studio. Contrary to local legend, they were not built by a sea captain for his estranged daughters but by milkman Peter Huyler. Their mansard roofs, which accommodated the original dormers of the federal-style houses, were added in 1870 by a Huyler descendant. Commerce Street,
variant image 2 In a variant image (1), Abbott photographed no. 39, isolating the old house from its twin and contrasting it with the two turn-of-the-century apartment buildings behind it and across Barrow Street. Another variant image (2) made with a smaller camera closely framed no. 41, with its modern fire escape prominently displayed. In the end, Abbott eschewed the contrast in scale, choosing the version that included both "twins" and their connecting garden wall, without intrusive signs of a later period. Return to Greenwich Village |
