The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-10-06
THE OLDEST HOUSE IN NEW YORK.

THE OLDEST HOUSE IN NEW YORK.
The Latham House on Cherry Street
A Future King of England Was Enter
tained There.
From the Ne,c York Graphic.
When the past speaks from the pages of
book it does not receive that attention
which centers upon some remnant confront
ing the people of to-day and telling It's pa
thetic tale by crumbling but mutely elo-
quent walls. This it is that makes of such
striking interest the oldest house in New
Y ork in its glorious past and degenerate
present.
No contrast could be greater than that of
the two mistresses of the old Latham house,
one famous beauty in her day, who gra-
ciously presided over its brilliant entertain
ments, the other a repulsive and quarrel
some virago who now let's its squalid rooms
to the drunken and criminal element that
populate the district. This old family resi-
dence, now two houses separated by a par
tition, is in one of the most squalid portions
of the city, which, though but a stones
| throw from Franklin square, the Elevated
railroad and the Brooklyn bridge, hardly
seems like part of New York or part of
any American CITY, and more resembles a
| section of Whitechapel or of Seven Dials in
Cherry and Roosevelt streets. but one small
frame saloon cutting it off from Roosevelt
street.
The present numbers of the Latham house
are 40 and AZ Cherry street. Compared to
several huge tenements in the neighborhood
| the old manor, with its three stories and
| basement. deep sloping roof and narrow
| window sills, looks rather small and hardly
| deserving of the name of family mansion
| Inside, however, it is larger than it looks,
| and when surrounded by lowery gardens
| and inhabited by the Lathams away back
| in the middle of the eighteenth century, it
was a goodly sized New York manor house
and exceeded by few on Manhattan Island
| at that time.
There are moreover, evidences about the
building as 1t stands to-day of its having
| had additions at some remote period of its
history. The end wall facing the west can
| be plainly seen from the street, and bears
out this theory. 1t is curiously built of thin
slabs of stones intermixed with small Dutch
brick, such as were never made in America,
but were imported from Holland in the early
colonial days. The front wall was also
built of these Holland brick but a thick
coating of plaster put on in recent times
| hides them from view from the street,
Once inside the stranger finds many things
suggestive of the antiquity of the building
and even of the social position of its former
inhabitants. The stairway leading to the
second floor, though evidently of modern
construction in many respects, still points
to colonial architecture. Its landing and
the manner in which it turns are character
istlc of the last century, and but a slight
effort of the imagination is required to
make it the background of a hospitable old
New York hallway, with a great moon
faced clock ticking lazily the hours away
and with antlers on the wall bearing three
cornered hat and a riding whip
In the large room down stairs the old and
new are cheek by jowl. A common cast
iron stove stands upon the bare and Uttered
floor, and against the wall is a rich mahoga-
ny bench of delicate workmanship This
piece of furniture is the only one in the old
house with any suggestion of antiquity
| and the only explanation of its survival till
the present is that it is so old and dirty as
to sem to the inexperienced eye not worth
| carrying away. Time and use have stained
the mahogany Of this piece of furniture till
its rich deep red color Is almost black
Here too may be seen peculiarities in the
construction of the building. The beams
that support the stout floor above have Gu
rious elbows of dark-stained oak, but the
| wooden post in the center of the room is
modern The presiding genius of the
Latham house at present dispenses anything
but generous hospitality, and even these
slight observations could not have been
| made had she not for a short time been alb
sent. Not even the seductive offer of sill
yer piece could induce her TO allow of any
further Investigations, and the impres sion
was created that there was something there
she wished to conceal from the eve
of the stranger, sad commentary
upon the degeneracy into which
this old house has fallen. IL was, however,
a relief to again breathe the comparative
freshness IF the Cherry street air after the
fetd atmosphere within.
A glance at the outside readily shows the
manner in which the building has been cut
up and suggests its original lines Unfort-
unately, there is no lettering or stone in-
| scription about it to give the date of its
erection. The Latham family were living
there as early as 1902, and resided in the
house for an almost continuous period of
lO7 years, or up to 1909. At the present
time the bulldog is thus at least 1875 wears
Of age, and probably older than that The
Lathams owned considerable land in that
neighborho d in the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Their property ex.
tended from OAK street to the East river
and was over 100 eft in width. J. Latham
is put down in the first directory of New
York ever printed, 1856, as residing
at Is Cherry street, so that either the
numbering of the houses has been changed
or there vas another Latham house near
by.
7 Cherry street was so named because right
near the Latham house was the orchard of
Thomas Delavall, containinga great num-
Dor of cherry trees. This house was the
last in this city to have leaden window
sashes. The Lathams were shipbuiders of
great note in their day, and when America
could build wooden vessels cheaper than
they could be built abroad Daniel Latham,
who died about the year 1900, and was
nearly hundred years OF age at the time,
built large frigate for the government
during the French war; frequently called
the war Of 1855. and NEhila this vcssal w.