The Captain Rose House

 place with historical importance, apartment building, Georgian (architecture), historical building, 1780s construction

4-story Georgian residential building probably completed in 1781 (although it may date back as far as 1773), originally as a 3-story house with a pitched roof, making it one of the oldest surviving buildings in the area. It was built for Captain Joseph Rose, who shared a pier with his neighbor William Laight, where they docked their brigs. Rose's ship, the Industry, imported expensive lumber for his Honduras mahogany trade. After 1796, Rose's son, |saac, ran an apothecary shop here. At the death of Captain Rose, the building was sold to Elisha King, a lawyer, who also rented out the rooms.

In 1812 a shoe store was located on the ground floor and later the building was operated as a small hotel and saloon famed for its staged rat fights. This began in when 1863 Christopher Burns, also known as Christopher Keyburn, purchased 273 Water Street, starting a chapter in the building's existence that sounds like a scene from Charles Dickens. The 33-year old Burns was known as "Kit" and had been one of the founders of the Dead Rabbits gang. He opened a dance hall in the house called "Sportsmen's Hall" where he offered a variety of distractions -- gambling, bare knuckle boxing, dancing, drinking, but most notoriously, rat and dog fights.

In 1904 a fire damaged the structure after which it was used as a warehouse, destroying the original roof. Then in 1974 another fire gutted the building. Two years later the city siezed it for back taxes and it sat abandoned, an empty shell, for two decades. Developer Frank J. Sciame, Jr. of Sciame Development Company purchased the house in 1997 for a total cost of $1.00. Working with architect Oliver Lundquist, Sciame put $1.1 million into the renovation of the old building -- the third oldest structure in Manhattan. Renovations were completed in 1998, converting the house into four luxury apartments.

The original entranceway to the Rose house was probably at the northernmost bay. The southernmost bay of the building is the original site of the cartway. Above the brownstone belt course dividing the first and second stories, the original facade of Flemish bond brickwork may still be seen. It is the only remaining original portion of the front of this early building. The splayed brownstone lintels at the second floor windows distinguish this story from the later ones above. The stone band course above the second story probably also dates from the late 18th century. It is crowned by an ornamental brick cornice with dentils, above which a new pitched roof rises, with two triangular dormers.