The 13th Street Presbyterian Church (143 West 13th Street, NYC) is an 1846-1847 Greek Revival Church attributed to Samuel Thomson, in the NYC Greenwich Village Historic District. It was an offshoot of the old Third Free Presbyterian Church located at Houston and Thompson Streets. Seven years after it opened, it burned down in 1855. It was quickly rebuilt, but by April 1902 it burned down again, both times faithfully recreating the original 1840s design.
As immigration changed the neighborhood’s demographics, the church merged with other Presbyterian congregations to remain afloat. In 1910 the name was changed to the Greenwich Presbyterian Church after it merged with the Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church. Later, it changed again to the Village Presbyterian Church. From 1954-1973 the church’s name was changed to the Village Community Church while shared the space with the Brotherhood Synagogue. But by 1975, the congregation gave up the ghost and disbanded, putting the building up for sale.
A developer purchased the church to turn it into apartments. But the building was located within the newly-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and the changes necessary to make this elegantly designed ecclesiastical structure suitable for living – such as inserting windows and doors into the intact Greek Revival facade – seemed incompatible with landmark designation. Fervent opposition to the residential conversion plan followed. A plan was eventually devised that allowed the redevelopment of the church to pass landmarks muster and move ahead.
In 1982 the building was converted into condominium apartment units, becoming known as Portico Place. The portico and columns are made of painted wood. This was developed under the landmarks review process in New York. The 15 different apartment configurations range from a 1,200 square foot two-bedroom units to a 2,100 square foot three-bedroom unit. Many are two-story and most have ceilings that soar to 15 feet. To let in more natural light, skylights were added, positioned so as not to be visible from the street. The main colonnaded facade remained unchanged, and a new residential entrance was created on the side.
All windows and doors were inserted only on the sides of the church, where they were scarcely visible, leaving all exterior architectural detailing intact. The church’s wrought iron gate remained. Even its message board– where the schedule of services or Bible quotes would normally appear – is preserved in front on 13th Street, now simply saying “141-143-145” to indicate the addresses of the apartments within. The conversion is so discreet, many assume the building is still a functioning church, and have no idea of the contention which surrounded the change to the building‘s current use.