Conference House

Location: 7455 Hylan Boulevard
Phone: (718) 984-6046
Description: At the southernmost tip of Staten Island—and New York State—stands the Conference House, a 17th-century stone manor. In 1676, British naval captain Christopher Billop was granted a 932-acre property known as the Manor of Bentley. Billop built the Conference House, a solid, two-story structure of native fieldstone, in about 1680. During the American Revolution, the owner of the manor was Captain Billop's great-grandson, a Tory colonel also called Christopher Billop. On September 11, 1776, his house was the site of peace negotiations between British Lord Admiral Richard Howe and Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge. The talks were unsuccessful, and the war continued for seven more years. After the Revolution, the house was confiscated by the State of New York; it served as a multi-family dwelling, a 19th-century hotel, and as a rat-poison factory before being deeded to the City of New York in 1926. In 1929, the Conference House Association took over operation of the house and has taken care of it since that time.

Accessible Notes: limited