It is a lovely old house situated on a little piece of land with an amazing view. If you are at all interested in American history, this property puts some things into perspective and puts Staten Island on the American History Map. There is a bus that goes straight there from the ferry. The ride takes about an hour.Take a picnic and sit on the lawn overlooking the water.
Overlooking the Arthur Kill and Perth Amboy, this 17th century house f Captain Billop is a great example of Colonial Architecture. Tours available on the Weekends. Best time to come is Halloween, Colonial Days exhibition and Father Christmas (usually the second Sunday in December), follows the Friday caroling and lighting of the giant Yule Log. NYC Parks Dept. maintains the grounds and their is a visitor center with Bathroom across Hylan Blvd. This is poorly signed. Lots of trails that parallel the seashore so where appropriate shoes and clothes, Easy Beach Access. There is no food or water available here so make sure you pack from home or stock up on Main St. at the Crackerbarrel Deli when you get off the train. Amboy Rd in Tottenville has a few convenient restaurants : Tottenville Tavern, Mikey Bagels, and Reggianos's Brick oven Pizza are walkable, but you will have to backtrack to the Conference house or stop here for dinner. Great birdwatching, and the SI Herb Society maintains the Colonial Herb Garden. Beautiful. Walk along Satterlee St to the Biddle House, a colonial mansion where my grandfather listened to the original "War of the Worlds" broadcast when this was a speakeasy. Exlore the trails and the beaches. Really better on a bike, you can cover more turf and get to food faster without a long wak through residential Tottenville.
The Conference House (ca. 1675) - at the southern tip of Staten Island, of New York City & of New York State - is one of the oldest houses in the city. It is the site of a conference during the Revolutionary War between Benjamin Franklin, John Adams & Edward Rutledge on the "rebel" side, & British representatives, as an ill-fated bid to end the war - the "rebels" refused to surrender, with the result of us not being Canadians today (no offense intended!); the house is today open as a museum. It is located in a pleasant park; if you squeeze through weeds to the nearby seashore, you'll have a pleasant & interesting view of Arthur Kill (a sound), with Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on the opposite side; further away is the Outerbridge Crossing (1928), the outermost bridge crossing in or from New York City - it was actually named for Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge (1860-1932), the one-time director of what was then the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey; the bridge could hardly have been named the "Outerbridge Bridge"! The adjacent district is Tottenville, New York State's southernmost neighborhood. This is small-town America right in the Big Apple! Here are many interesting historic buildings - bring a copy of the architectural guidebook AIA GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY.
Is at the tip of Staten Island and the New Jersey shore can be seen from here. You can also see one of the 17 lighthouses the are in the New York harbor. Sandy washed away the beach but it looks like the fishing is still good from here.
Make sure that you visit at a time when you can get a guided tour of inside the house. (It's free on Fridays.) There is so much history to learn here. It's located in an easy to get to pleasant park with magnificent views of the south end of the Arthur Kill and New Jersey. The House is located at the end of Hylan Blvd, but the cross street there is a one-way to the right. It's easy to park on the street there but difficult to get back to Hylan Blvd. I suggest going immediately left at Hylan's end into their small lot if there is room. The lot is free. Rest rooms are in the tiny visitors' center.
the confrence house is nice and historical . but if your looking for a place to sit and look and the water,myou have to fix the open air pavilion which was taken out by termites and super storm sandy,, the grounds are still really nice
I went on Sunday morning to checkout the Conference House. I had read that this is a haunted place but it didn't feel haunted at all. In fact a lot of families were there having picnic right next to the house. They offer tours to the house between 1pm - 4 pm but I went earlier in the morning and didn't stay for the tour. I would like to go back and take the tour. It's a fascinating place because of its history. There no restrooms or places to buy food.
The Conference House is located at the end of Hylan Boulevard where for only 100 yards away or so you can see across the waterway to New Jersey. October 19th is the Halloween Extravaganza(admission). October 24 is a workshop on making wreaths and Napkin Rings can be made on Nov. 14 (fees apply).In early December there will be Grand Illumination celebration and the Tree Lighting ceremony on the same night.
A tour of the historic Conference House, on the weekend, is truly like entering a time machine and going back to an early period in Staten Island's roots. It should be more of a national draw for history buffs throughout the country.
Love the park right on the water. Summer nights they have live music on the gazebo. In the fall they usually have festivals with pumpkin decorating, haystack searches, fun stuff for kids. Never actually took a tour of the house, though because I'm not really into history like that, but those who are would probably really enjoy it.