J
ane Jacobs, the urbanist who rallied citizens to protect Washington Square Park and authored *The Death and Life of Great American Cities*, once called a narrow West Village rowhouse her home. 555 Hudson St., a brick building erected in 1842, is now on the market for $5.49 million—$500,000 below its previous asking price.
The house sits on a block that once housed the White Horse Tavern, a gathering place for dockworkers, immigrants, and literary icons such as Dylan Thomas, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Jack Kerouac, Jim Morrison, and Bob Dylan. The first edition of Jacobs’ book even featured a photo of her at the tavern’s bar.
The 16.5‑foot‑wide residence spans 2,265 sq ft. Inside, two bedrooms, a full bath, two powder rooms, and three fireplaces—one in the living room where Jacobs conceived the “Save the Square” protest—define the layout. The ground floor houses a great room, dining area, kitchen, and a powder room, while the upper level contains a private duplex with its own entrance, two bedrooms, a full bath, and a terrace overlooking a private garden. A basement offers storage, laundry, and an additional powder room. The garden level, originally a commercial space, now opens to a secluded yard that once hosted a candy shop during Jacobs’ residency.
Jacobs and her husband, architect Robert Hyde Jacobs Jr., purchased the home for $7,000 in 1947—roughly $106,000 in today’s dollars—three years after their marriage. They raised their three children there before relocating to Toronto in 1968, partly to protest the Vietnam War, as their sons were draft age.
The property’s exterior bears a plaque honoring Jacobs. The house’s narrow footprint and historic character make it a rare West Village gem, yet it offers ample opportunity for personalization. Buyers can also exercise unused air rights to add up to 1,652 sq ft of living space.
The current owner, Susan Spehar, a former social worker from St. Louis, acquired the home for $3.32 million in 2009 after her husband’s death. “When I bought it, I didn’t know anything about Jane Jacobs,” Spehar recalled. “The house just had a great feeling. I felt I was carrying a torch for someone else. It was a home that had meaning.” She once encountered a crowd of about 50 people who mistook her for Jacobs and left flowers at her doorstep. Spehar said she had heard that Jacobs’ admirers would lay flowers by the door annually.
Listing broker Leslie Modell of Sotheby’s International Realty, who co‑manages the sale with his daughter Missy Modell, emphasized the property’s historic significance. “The lucky buyer will live where the blueprint for modern city life was written,” Leslie said. Missy added, “It’s a rare West Village home where character is preserved, yet there’s plenty of room to make it your own.”
