The Chester A. Arthur Home is a five-story masonry structure with Romanesque Revival styling. It is three bays wide, and has an elaborate cornice, which obscures its low-pitch or flat roof. Windows on the upper three floors are set in segmented arch openings, with splayed stone lintels and bracketed sills. The lower two floors have been converted into a retail space, with a modernized storefront, and the upper floors have been converted to apartments. The interior of the house has relatively little historic integrity.[3]
Chester Alan Arthur moved to New York City in 1848, where he engaged in the practice of law, and in Republican Party politics. He rose in the city's Republican machine to become Collector of the Port of New York, a major patronage post. He was chosen to be James Garfield's running mate in the 1880 election, and became president after Garfield died on September 19, 1881, from wounds incurred in an assassination attempt eleven weeks earlier. Arthur took the oath of office in this house, and retired to it after his term ended in 1885. He died here the following year.[3]
The house was later purchased by William Randolph Hearst.[8] It has since undergone many changes. Today, the building houses Kalustyan's, an Indian and Middle Eastern grocery store, on the first two floors, and apartments on the top three.
^ ab"Chester A. Arthur House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 10, 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.