74 Irving Place (New York City, New York) | apartment building

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4-story French Second Empire-style residential building originally completed in 1847 as a townhouse for Benjamin L. Blonk. It was sold to Michael McGrath in 1859 and remodeled into its present style. It is clad in white stone. The entrance on the right, replacing the original stoop, has black iron-and-glass double-doors and sidelights. There is a secondary entrance on the left with a more utilitarian set of double-doors, and a double-window in the middle. The 2nd & 3rd floors have three bays of single-windows, and the 4th floor is a steep mansard of both square and hexagonal slate shingles with two dormers. Each is framed in brown iron, with a broken pediment on top. The mansard is crowned by a fluted, brown iron cornice.

One floor was leased to the Heckscher family in 1873, and after Michael McGrath's death in 1891, his wife Catherine continued to rent rooms in the house. The last Magrath listed at the address was John, a member of the Real Estate Exchange, who was still here in 1899. The family, however, would retain ownership for decades. That same year the house received a major alteration when a commercial space was carved into the former basement level for cabinet-makers C. & J. Bloomingdale. In 1920 the Magrath family hired the architectural firm Philip Bardes Co. to convert the old house to bachelor apartments. Catherine Magrath died in 1922, and the building was sold to George Glandening. Then in 1973 a renovation resulted in two apartments per floor. There is also a separate 3-story rear building. Both building are now divided into a total of 18 apartment units.