Hans Noë, Architect, Sculptor and Proprietor of a Famed Bar, Dies at 96

Hans Noë, an architect, sculptor and accidental restaurateur who was best known for his meticulous revival of one of New York City’s oldest bars, died on May 11 at his home in Garrison, N.Y. He was 96.

His death, in his sleep, was confirmed by his son Alva Noë.

Although Mr. Noë (pronounced NO-way) designed and built both innovative houses and geometric wooden sculptures, his most visible role in the cultural life of his adopted city was as the proprietor of Fanelli Cafe.

In the early 1970s, he began buying neglected buildings in SoHo, fixing them up and renting them to commercial tenants and as artists’ lofts. When, about a decade later, the seller of a five-story building on the corner of Prince and Mercer Streets threw in the street-level bar, Fanelli Cafe, Mr. Noë figured he’d clear it out. Though it had been serving alcohol under one name or another since just after the Civil War, the bar was in poor shape.

Instead of getting rid of it, though, Mr. Noë found himself adopting the place locals call Fanelli’s — dusting the ceiling fans, installing a roller gate and gradually introducing other improvements that were so well considered and gentle that the regulars may not have even noticed. He kept the place open later and more consistently. He cleaned up the kitchen and started serving hamburgers, omelets and bread from Manhattan’s Vesuvio Bakery. He got rid of the cigarette machine.

Mr. Noë’s younger son, Sasha, who took over around the year 2000, described one improvement as particularly emblematic of his father, who shied away from change for change’s sake but was never precious about details.