Williamsburg Houses
The Williamsburg Houses is a public housing complex in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. Built from 1936 to 1938 and formerly known as the Ten Eyck Houses, it covers about 25 acres and includes 20 four‑story buildings on a block bordered by Scholes, Maujer, and Leonard Streets and Bushwick Avenue. It was one of the era’s most ambitious and expensive projects, costing about $12.5 million, and was originally segregated to white residents. The development was designed by chief architect Richmond Shreve with a design team led by Swiss‑American modernist William Lescaze, and the contract went to Starrett Brothers & Eken.
The complex was planned as a modern International Style community with courtyards, playgrounds, ball courts, a school and a community building, and two curved pedestrian paths. Buildings come in three shapes when viewed from above—H, h, and T—with the T shapes in the middle and H shapes around them, oriented to catch sunlight at a 15-degree angle. Storefronts line several streets, including Graham Avenue, Leonard Street, and Bushwick Avenue, with larger retail spaces on parts of Graham and Maujer.
The project included art programs funded by the Federal Arts Project. Five abstract murals by artists such as Ilya Bolotowsky and Balcomb Greene were installed in basement meeting rooms in the late 1930s and later moved to the Brooklyn Museum. The plan also featured other mural and sculpture proposals, some of which were not installed or later moved to different collections.
In 1957, the city transferred the development to NYCHA. A major renovation costing about $70 million was completed in 1999. In December 2021, NYCHA converted the Williamsburg Houses to a Section 8 RAD PACT arrangement with private developers RDC Development and Wavecrest Management Group, along with social service partners St. Nicks Alliance Corp and Grand Street Settlement.
The Williamsburg Houses are a designated New York City Landmark (2003) and were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:24 (CET).