The “French Flat” for the first time made it acceptable for middle class and wealthy New Yorkers to live in apartments, previously thought of as a temporary measure at most for anyone other than the poor and working class.
This shift wasn’t just about a change in taste. Booming population in the late 19th century combined with expanded mass transit and technological innovations like steel frames and elevators meant land values were skyrocketing; building or maintaining single-family homes rather than bigger, taller buildings in the middle of the city was becoming increasingly less economical.
Village Preservation is releasing their latest interactive StoryMap, “French Flats: the 19th Century Innovation that Changed the Way We Live.” Beautifully illustrated with contemporary and historic photos, it shows how an idea imported from Europe utterly transformed New York after the Civil War, with the effects still very much with us today.
The StoryMap looks at how the trend began in the City of New York, largely in and around Greenwich Village and the East Village, and then takes a deep dive into every surviving example of this building type in those neighborhoods.
You can view the StoryMap here. A Zoom talk is scheduled for this evening as well – register for that here.
Photos provided.
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