Williamsburg Houses

Williamsburg Houses
Humboldt and Scholes Streets
Former names	Ten Eyck Houses
General information
Location	Brooklyn, New York City
Country	United States
Construction started	1936
Opened	April 10, 1938
Cost	$12.5 million
Owner	New York City Housing Authority

The Williamsburg Houses, originally called the Ten Eyck Houses, (pronounced Ten Ike) is a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) development in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood, New York City, New York.

New York City Council politician Rosie Méndez grew up in the development. The Williamsburg Houses were designated a New York City Landmark in 2003.

The Williamsburg Houses were built in 1936–1938 under the auspices of the Housing Division of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Standing between Maujer and Scholes Streets, and Leonard Street and Bushwick Avenue, its 20 four-story residential buildings occupy twelve city blocks. It was one of the first and most costly (in 1937 dollars) of New York City housing projects. New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia poured the first shovel of concrete for the project and was a strong supporter of the project despite its cost ($12.5 million in 1936). The site is the former home of Williamsburg Continuation School and the Finco Dye and Print Works Inc.

The chief architect of the project was Richmond Shreve, and the design team of nine other architects was led by the pioneering Swiss-American modernist William Lescaze, whose Philadelphia Saving Fund Society building of 1928-32 was one of the first major International Style buildings in the United States. The construction contract was awarded to Starrett Brothers & Eken, which had worked closely with Shreve on the Empire State Building and later built the housing developments Parkchester, Stuyvesant Town, and Peter Cooper Village. The 20 residential buildings of the Williamsburg Houses are positioned to allow a sequence of courtyards, playgrounds, and ball courts between them; a school and community building are part of the site plan, and two curving pedestrian pathways cut through the grounds. The houses are oriented towards the sun at a 15-degree angle.