{"nrhp_refnum":"82001261","name":"Houseman, Peter, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"308 St.John Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Staten Island","state":"NY","lat":40.61603433600004,"lon":-74.13637051099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-part eighteenth-century house at 308 St. John Avenue in the Westerleigh neighborhood of Staten Island, New York. A small fieldstone section dates from 1730 and a larger frame section from 1760.","why_significant":"The house shows the basic forms of colonial domestic architecture as they developed on Staten Island in the eighteenth century, and it is one of very few surviving houses from that period. The stone wing reflects early settlement, while the 1760 frame addition, with its fine woodwork, reflects the prosperity of millwright Peter Housman. Its later history ties it to the 1887 development of Westerleigh.","narrative":"This house at 308 St. John Avenue in Westerleigh, Staten Island, consists of two eighteenth-century sections. The older part, built about 1730, is a small story-and-a-half fieldstone house with a steep roof, heavy timber framing and a large stone chimney. In 1760 Peter Housman, a prosperous millwright, bought the house and forty-six acres from Thomas Dongan and added a larger frame section with shingle siding, six-over-six windows, a paneled parlor and an original staircase. The house is one of very few surviving examples of early Staten Island domestic architecture and shows the shift from basic shelter to a more stylish home. Housman was murdered there by robbers in 1784. His son John, a county official and judge, later owned it. After 1825 it passed through several owners, and in 1887 the farm was sold for the Prohibition Park summer resort, which became the Westerleigh neighborhood. Three lots were kept for the house, which remains a private residence on landscaped grounds.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Colonial domestic architecture","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, carefully preserved and well maintained, and used as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.558587-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/82001261.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001261/874e139208-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001261/874e139208-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PETER_HOUSEMAN_HOUSE,_WESTERLEIGH,_RICHMOND_COUNTY,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PETER_HOUSEMAN_HOUSE,_WESTERLEIGH,_RICHMOND_COUNTY,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321357","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Houseman_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7174743"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/staten-island/houseman-peter-house-82001261/"}