willow flowers
flowerbox
We can’t remember the exact address of this double-wide place on Willow Street but we thought it deserved a special mention for the flower boxes than adorn its parlor floor windows. We’ll see what the experts at Apartment Therapy think.


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  1. I am researching a fellow who supposedly lived in the house in 1863. not confirmed yet. His name was Joseph Annin, a lawyer. He was killed during the July 14, 1863 NYC draft riots. Joseph was at 2nd ave and about 22nd st in nyc. He saw the mob was about to lynch a 16 yr old black boy. Annin appealed to the crowd to stop it. they clubbed annin. then a fellow named Miller, from his apt window, shot Annin who died a few weeks later. the boy was hung. an account says that annin died at 70 willow street in brooklyn. a relative named robert forbes had retrieved annin from bellvue hospital.

    does anyone know who owned the house in July or august 1863 ??

    is brooklyn heights the same place as “brooklyn”

    Glen Pierce gpierce9@comcast.net
    whiting NJ

  2. That is 70 Willow. But the house wasn’t owned by Arthur Miller…though I think he may have lived close by. 70 Willow was owned from the mid-50s through 1994 by 8-time Tony Award winning scenic designer Oliver Smith (My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, West Side Story, Camelot, Sound of Music, Brigadoon, etc.), who for a time rented the downstairs floorthrough apartment to Truman Capote. At one point during Mr. Smith’s tenure there, Tyrone Guthrie was renting the top floor. Smith also co-produced American Ballet Theatre for 40 years, and designed many ballets choreographed by Jerome Robbins and Agnes DeMille (Fancy Free, Rodeo, Les Noces, Fall River Legend, etc.); he also designed the sets for the Broadway production of Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I believe there are also some photos of the interior of 70 Willow in Mr. Lockwood’s book.