One of the oldest houses on Staten Island

Written by hdc on Jul 26, 2007

From the Staten Island Advance

HISTORY LIVES ON ‘THE KING’S ROAD’
The Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House is one of the oldest residences still standing in our borough
Thursday, July 26, 2007
JAMES G. FERRERI

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — It’s an unassuming house; a structure of white stone masonry with a steeply pitched roof, set well back from the road and framed by a simple white, wood fence. It’s also one of the oldest residences standing on Staten Island and straddles three centuries of New York City history.

You’ve probably passed the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House a thousand times driving along Richmond Road in Dongan Hills, never realizing the significance of this Dutch Colonial gem, and the important part each of its inhabitants played in the history of our city.

The first of Staten Island’s well-known families to live there were the Billious.

Pierre Billiou was a Walloon, or French Huguenot, who arrived in New Amsterdam — what would become New York City — in August of 1661 with his wife and four children aboard the ship St. Jean Baptist. Later that month, Billiou and others appeared before the Dutch Council in New Amsterdam to request an allotment of Staten Island lands for themselves and others who had arrived “by the last ships.”

Their petition was granted; Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch Director-General of the Colony at the time, and the Council resolved to “look up a convenient place on Staten Island and lay it out for a village.” Aided by a government surveyor, Billiou layed out “Oude Dorp” — now South Beach — the first permanent settlement on Staten Island. By 1664, Stuyvesant reported to the Dutch West India Company that 12 to 14 families were living in the new community.

But Billiou did not build his house there, choosing a spot beneath the hills farther inland on the King’s Road — Richmond Road — in present-day Dongan Hills, where he built a modest farmhouse reminiscent of those of his homeland on his 80-acre farm in the New World.

HUGE FIREPLACE

The stone and wood-framed house featured a steeply pitched roof in the medieval style. But the building’s most distinctive feature was the huge fireplace, with neither jambs nor sides, which still stands. This, the oldest section of the Richmond Road structure is believed to have been built in 1662. Remarkably, the house stands as the only remaining building on Staten Island built under Dutch rule.

Billiou served the community well over the years, being named judicial officer of the first court, a delegate to the General Assembly in Manhattan and a Lieutenant of the Militia. On Aug. 25, 1673, he was elected Schout and Schepen — sheriff and magistrate — during the Dutch reoccupation of New York in 1673. He died in Staten Island in 1702.

By August 1667, New Amsterdam was in the hands of the English and renamed New York. The Dutch seized control in 1673, as referenced above, but the English regained permanent control the following year. At that point, Staten Island’s inhabitants were allowed to choose their own civil officers.

THE STILWELL CONNECTION

Nicholas Stillwell, who had come north from Virginia, was elected constable, the highest elected office on the Island at the time. He had a son, Thomas, who married into the Billiou family. It is believed the second portion of the house on the King’s Road was built by Pierre Billiou for his daughter, Martha, and Thomas Stillwell. When Billiou died in 1702, he had apparently already granted the home to his daughter and son-in-law: His will recounts only the objects left to them; neither the home nor land are mentioned in the document.

The first mention of the Perine name on Staten Island (it was then spelled Perrin), was in 1687, when Daniel Perine sold land. Though the Perine family’s history here is not easily traceable, research confirms that the home on Richmond Road was occupied by them for a century and a half, from 1764 to 1913.

As was the case with most old Staten Island families, the Perines married into other important old families and the list of these matches is a veritable Who’s Who of Staten Islanders of that period, including names like Mersereau, Simonson, Guyon and Bedell.

FLOOR PLAN

The late Island historian Loring McMillen drew a chronological floor plan of the house on Richmond Road, showing the dates when the different sections were constructed. He lists them as follows: 1663, the Billiou-built section at the rear, a one-and-one-half-story rough cut fieldstone farmhouse, is constructed; 1680, the Stillwell home near the front is built, with its English-inspired wood paneling around the fireplace; 1760, the Perine family builds a “chamber” — bedroom — in the rear of the Stillwell section; 1790, the Perines build a kitchen onto the original Billiou portion of the home; 1830, the Perines build another kitchen onto the Stillwell portion of the home.

The two oldest sections of the home overlap rather oddly. It is believed that rather than demolish a large, old tree near the corner of the older home, the family decided to build the newer portion to one side of the original building. The Stillwell portion was built as a totally separate home, with just a door at the rear to connect it to the Billiou home.

Both buildings are of “undressed” fieldstone known as “Dutch construction,” in contrast to the roughly square stone construction method that came at a later date and was known as “English construction.” The old stone farmhouse was purchased from the Perine family in 1915 by the Antiquarian Society — today, the Staten Island Historical Society — and has been in its care for nearly a century. A caretaker occupies the Stillwell portion of the house. In 1967, the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House became one of the earliest New York City Landmarks. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission’s declaration reads: “The Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House has a special character, special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of New York City.”

FORESIGHT

Thanks to the foresight of the “Antiquarian Society” and the preservationists who lobbied to have this important home protected, we still can touch a tangible piece of Staten Island history.

We are who we are today because of those who came before. In the case of the various inhabitants of the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House, there literally might not have been the Staten Island that we know today. It was these families who shaped its development, first as part of fledgling New Amsterdam, and subsequently as part of New York.

Think about that the next time you whiz by the ancient stone building on Richmond Road.

© 2007 Staten Island Advance
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Posted Under: Donagan Hills, Staten Island