Britton Cottage

1001 Richmond Hill Road | Lighthouse Hill | built 1931

Open on the map6 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1670

    A stone town house for Staten Island's courts and government rises on the Governor's Lot

    The oldest part of the cottage, its stone center section, was built around 1670 as Staten Island's "Town House" for court and government business. Town clerk Obadiah Holmes, who arrived from Long Island in 1670, also lived there; the lot was formally conveyed to him in 1677 and he passed it to his son Obadiah Jr. in 1679. Holmes also served as a justice of the peace in 1685 and 1689.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1695

    Nathaniel and Elizabeth Britton buy the stone cottage

    In 1695 Nathaniel and Elizabeth Britton bought the Governor's Lot and its stone house. Britton came from a family that had lived on Long Island before 1660 and whose descendants were among Staten Island's most constructive leaders in the first half century of British rule. He and his son served as deacons of the Presbyterian Society and helped found the English Presbyterian church on Staten Island.

    “Nathaniel Britton and his wife Elizabeth acquired the "Governor's Lot" with its stone cottage in 1695.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1750

    A two-room frame wing completes the three-part colonial cottage

    Around 1750 a two-room frame addition went up on the east side, as a continuation of the fieldstone center built about 1670. A frame kitchen wing had been added on the west side in 1700. The center section is built of random ashlar, with keyed brickwork framing its batten door and shuttered windows.

    “The frame kitchen section on the west side was added in 1700, and the two room frame addition on the east side was constructed in 1750…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1761

    Isaac Cubberly buys the house, beginning 86 years of family ownership

    Isaac Cubberly, who had come to Staten Island from New Jersey, bought the property in 1761. His descendants stayed on for 86 years, which is why the Cubberly name became attached to the house.

    “Members of the Cubberly family lived in the house for eighty-six years, hence, the association of the family name with the house.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1915

    Botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton gives the cottage to the Staten Island Institute

    Dr. Nathaniel Lord Britton, the botanist who founded the New York Botanical Garden, became owner of the house in the 19th century; he descended from the Nathaniel Britton who had bought it in 1695. He handed the cottage over to the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences by deed in 1915.

    “A botanist and founder of the New York Botanical Garden, Dr. Britton deeded the house to the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1915.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1967

    The threatened cottage is moved from New Dorp to Richmondtown

    Facing demolition at its original spot at the foot of New Dorp Lane, the cottage was moved in 1967 to the Richmondtown Restoration, where it faces Richmond Road beside the mill pond. During the move, pieces of diamond-shaped leaded window glass turned up beneath the floor, evidence of the casement windows the restorers planned to bring back.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Further reading

Nearby

All 14 buildings with stories in Lighthouse Hill