Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Artist |
Broughton, Charles |
Date |
ca. 1890-1895 |
Title |
The Old Van Duzer House |
Description |
Watercolor painting on paper, matted. Front view of a two-story house in a winter landscape. Handwritten inscription in pencil at lower right: "The Old Van Duzer House / S.W. Corner of Richmond Rd. (West) / & Shore Rd (Bay St.) demolished / in 1895." Inscription in ink, lower left: "To my friend Wm. T. Davis / Chas. Broughton." |
Acquisition |
Gift of William T. Davis |
Ownership and History |
The demolition of this house was reported in the Richmond County Advance on August 24, 1895: "The Old Van Duzer Homestead. The old Van Duzer homestead at Stapleton, which stood for nearly two hundred years in perfect condition, has just been demolished. It was one of the oldest houses in the vicinity of New York. It is the general opinion among the present members of the family that the house was built about 1715, when Robert Hunter was Governor of New York. It was therefore about 180 years old. Abraham Van Duzer paid $12,000 for the house and grounds, which covered a space bounded by the bay, Richmond Road, Brester and Hannah streets. The long extent of shoreline which was of little use to Abraham Van Duzer in 1765 was the means of making him one of the richest men on Staten Island several years later. When Abraham Van Duzer purchased the house he built an addition to the north end of the structure, and the house remained for about 130 years as improved by the first Van Duzer. It faced the east. Isaac Van Duzer, who is sixty-eight years old, and is fond of talking of old times, says: 'There were two things from which the old house was free. No spook was ever seen there, and General Washington never slept under the roof. During the Revolutionary War the British soldiers were encamped all around the house, and my grandfather used to tell me how he had to feed some of them." |
Earliest Date |
1890 |
Latest Date |
1895 |
Subjects |
Houses Winter Snow |
Lexicon Sub-category |
Art |
Associated People |
Davis, William T. |
Catalog Number |
37.007.0001 |
Support Acknowledgment |
Online Collections Database record made possible by the Staten Island Historical Society, December 2018. |
Legal Status |
Items represented here are from the collections of the Staten Island Historical Society. Materials reproduced for personal non-commercial use must credit the Staten Island Historical Society. Commercial licensing is available. |