Anyone who has strolled down a Greenwich Village side street has probably seen a horse walk door—an unadorned, mysterious entrance without a stoop that opens to the sidewalk.
The horse walk door is the brown one to the left at this house at 7 Leroy Street, a Federal-style beauty built in 1831.
Behind this door is the horse walk, a narrow passageway through which a homeowner’s horse was led from the street to a separate carriage house or stable behind the main house.
Of course, it’s been a good century or so since anyone has used a horse walk for their own equine. Those back carriage houses are now sought-after private residences.
Here’s a listing for the carriage house behind 7 Leroy Street—yours for $16,000 a month.
This horse walk door to the right of the main entrance is part of another lovely Federal-style house built in 1819 at 83 Sullivan Street near Spring Street.
You can just imagine a horse being led to and from the door every day to what was probably a very muddy street, so his owner can use him as transportation to get around the growing city.
Tags: architecture of Greenwich Village, carriage houses in New York City, Federal-style homes Greenwich Village, Greenwich Village back houses, Greenwich Village street, Horse walk, Horses in New York City, Leroy Street, Sullivan Street
Ephemeral New York 
January 24, 2012 at 5:54 am |
Fascinating! Is the horse walk door still used to access the homes in the back? I want one! But I can only afford to live there for 2 days 🙂
January 24, 2012 at 6:00 am |
Yes, in fact the doors have their own separate house numbers now. They are prime real estate and super expensive because of their charm and privacy.
January 24, 2012 at 1:43 pm |
i had no idea.
January 24, 2012 at 1:53 pm |
I can maybe manage a 24 hour stay @ 16k/mo. At least I can get a decent meal in that part of town.
January 24, 2012 at 8:00 pm |
I had no idea. In years past, I have visited at one of the charming Carmine Street carriage houses that are clustered behind an unprepossessing entryway. Thanks for sharing the secret.
January 24, 2012 at 8:02 pm |
I only wish I could see someone lead their horse down one!
January 25, 2012 at 5:01 am |
Thanks for the tip. I’m in the West Village everyday, but I’ve never noticed those doors. Tomorrow I’ll keep an eye open for them!
December 10, 2012 at 7:14 am |
[…] family’s horses located behind, accessible through either a side passageway or a tunnel or ‘horsewalk‘ through the […]
July 9, 2013 at 5:33 pm |
They would leave the carriage or wagon out front?
October 11, 2014 at 4:59 am |
I lived at 83 Sullivan st 1942-1950 wondered what was behind the door as a child.
September 2, 2016 at 11:31 am |
If a house has a horsewalk, then the rear building is necessarily a former stable, not a former carriage house.
Carriages don’t fit through horsewalks. Had there actually been a carriage house at the rear, then its resident carriage obviously would have traveled to and from the carriage house by some alternate route (such as through a back alley, or through neighboring lots which may now have newer buildings). Had such a route existed, then the house would not have even needed a horsewalk simply because the horses would have taken the same route to the carriage house as the carriage.
An examination of the the facade of the rear building is also often telling. Is there a double-wide carriage door? Or has the brickwork be redone to remove a carriage door? Does the building even have interior space for a carriage? If the answers are no, no and no, then you’re looking at a former stable.
September 30, 2018 at 11:59 pm |
[…] Dense urban areas like New York City still have evidence of these discrete entrances, such as at 7 Leroy Street in Greenwich Village, constructed in 1831, and 336 West 12th Street in the West Village, from the […]