One of the oldest wood homes in Manhattan is located at 6 Weehawken St. It belonged to Jean-Louis Goldwater Bourgeois, the son of the late artist Louise Bourgeois.
He said publicly for years that he planned to leave the house to the Lenape people, telling the New York Times in 2017 that he was “giving it back to whom the land was stolen from, and that’s really a joyful event.”
An interior shot of 6 Weehawken Street
Photo by Allyson Lubow, Courtesy of Corcoran
However, when Bourgeois died last year, the house went to his estate and is now being sold through the Corcoran Group. Bourgeois did leave $50,000 for the care and feeding of his cat, Mali.
The cedar-shingled shack, which sits in the middle of a blocklong historic district, was built on the site of the former Newgate Prison, the first of the city’s many ill-fated penitentiaries.
An interior shot of 6 Weehawken Street.
Photo by Allyson Lubow, Courtesy of Corcoran
In 1834, a few years after the prison was torn down, the city built a wide, open shed with deep, overhanging gables, which functioned as a market for meat, produce, and fish from the nearby maritime trade. The remains of that market structure were used to build 6 Weehawken St.
In the 189 years since then, the building has served as a Prohibition-era speakeasy, an illegal gambling club, an adult DVD store, two different leather bars (Choo Choo’s Pier and Sneakers) and a single-family home, among other purposes.
A staircase inside the house at 6 Weehawken Street.
Photo by Allyson Lubow, Courtesy of Corcoran
Now the clapboard live/work space with its distinctive outdoor staircase is for sale, with an asking price of $6 million. The Corcoran Group, which is handling the sale, advises prospective buyers to “bring your architect and your imagination.”
As the block is landmarked, the buyer will not be able to change the home’s historic exterior.
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