The Britton Cottage, formerly known as the Cubberly House,
is a house in the
Historic Richmond Town
Historic Richmond Town is an authentic town and farm museum complex in the neighborhood of Richmondtown, Staten Island, in New York City. It is located near the geographical center of the island, at the junction of Richmond Road and Arthur Kill ...
museum complex in the neighborhood of
Richmondtown
Richmondtown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Island section of Staten Island, New York City. It is bounded by Arthur Kill Road on the northwest, Richmond Road on the north, Amboy Road on the east and southeast, and the United Hebrew and Ocean ...
,
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The oldest section of the cottage dates to 1671, with additions in the mid-18th century. It is constructed of stone and timberframe components. The house was originally located at the intersection of New Dorp Lane and Cedar Grove Avenue in the
New Dorp Beach
New Dorp Beach is along the shore of the neighborhood of New Dorp, on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is between Midland Beach and Oakwood Beach.
History
The first recorded European settlement in the town of New ...
section of Staten Island,
but was moved to its current location in 1967 when it was threatened with demolition.
History of ownership
The earliest section of the house was built to serve court and government functions. One of its earliest known inhabitants was town clerk and justice of the peace Obadiah Holmes, the son of early Rhode Island settler
Obadiah Holmes
Obadiah Holmes (1610 – 15 October 1682) was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism. He became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, ...
, who came from Long Island. In 1679, he transferred ownership of the property to his son Obadiah. Nathaniel Britton, an ancestor of the man for whom the cottage is named, acquired the house in 1695. Isaac Cubberly bought the house in 1761 and the house remained in his family for eighty-six years.
Dr. Nathaniel Lord Britton, a botanist and the creator of the
New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...
, became the owner of the house in the 19th century and deeded the house to the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1915.
See also
*
List of the oldest buildings in New York
This article attempts to list the oldest buildings in the state of New York, including the oldest houses and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based on architectural studies and historical records; other dates are bas ...
*
List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Staten Island
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated over a thousand landmarks, class ...
*
References
Other sources
*Sterling, Keir B. 1997. ''Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists and Environmentalists,'' Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
Neighborhood Preservation center, New York, NY
External links
Britton Cottage on the Historic Richmond Town website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, The, Cottage
Houses in Staten Island
New York City Designated Landmarks in Staten Island
Historic Richmond Town
Houses completed in 1671