Re: Description of the Jean and Marie La tourrette Staten Island Homestead from 1893
-
In reply to:
Description of the Jean and Marie La tourrette Staten Island Homestead from 1893
Robert Hoadley 4/11/11
Thanks to Mr. Hoadley for posting a description of the original Latourrette homestead built around 1698-99. Since Mt. Izzard does not appear on current maps, see my posting about its location which is identified in
http://genforum.genealogy.com/latourette/messages/404.htmlhttp://genforum.genealogy.com/latourette/messages/404.html
as:
The site of the original Latourrette homestead is located in La Tourette Park in the woods off of the left side of the first fairway as you approach the green. Its approximate location can be found on Google Earth at the coordinates 40 degrees 34’ 25.30” N and 74 degrees 09’ 05.91” W. (Thanks to Mr. Mc Mullen for narrowing the location to these coordinates.) This location is west of the northwest corner of the driving range. The fairways and driving range are very clear on Google Earth and it appears the road that once went just to the north of the homestead was located along what is now the left side of the fairway. On Google Earth visually trace a straight-line path by extending the road that turns into the 1836 mansion on the other side of Richmond Hill Road to the southwest.
Also, anyone who wants to see a house of that period which is similar originally in design look up the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine house on Staten Island. It is owned by the Historical Society and a few years ago the head of maintenance John Abb gave my son and I a tour of it. The following is a brief description of the Billiou house.
Billiou-Stilwell-Perine House
1476 Richmond Road in Dongan Hills
Built 1670s
A one-and-one-half story farmhouse, built of Dutch-construction, rough cut fieldstone with a steep, medieval-style roof and enormous Dutch fireplace. Pierre Billiou was one of Staten Island's earliest Walloon settlers. His son-in-law, Captain Thomas Stilwell, who added a section to the house in 1700, was an English adventurer from Gravesend, Brooklyn. The 1700 section has a beautifully paneled fireplace with a feather-edged partition. Later additions were made to the house in 1750, 1790, and 1830. The Perines owned the house during the Revolution when Richmond Road was the King's Highway and a stagecoach route. The house is owned by the Staten Island Historical Society and is open to the public.