The Seguine Mansion, acres of shaded bliss.
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In 1598, the Edict of Nantes was issued in France by King Henry IV, granting the Protestants, or Huguenots, freedom and civil rights. In 1685, this edict was revoked by King Louis XIV. At this time, he issued the Edict on Flontainbleau, which made Protestantism illegal. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled France to find a new residence. King Louis XIV was the monarch of New France, as well, which consisted of many of the mid-eastern states in North America, as well as much of Canada. Due to this, the Huguenots were banned from settlings there and instead settled in the Dutch New Netherland, which was encompassed by the western states of America.
In 1706, a census was taken of Staten Island's inhabitants. At this time,…
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During the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century, a single-room, half-timbered Dutch Colonial home was built at 2 Hylan Boulevard. From its construction up until 1775, many additions were made to the house. Between the years of 1725 and 1750, a second room was added to the house. During the years between 1750 and 1775, another addition was made to the house, giving it an L-shape.
Between the years of 1919 and 1931, a handful of houses were built in many different architectural styles. Most of which were of the Arts & Crafts-style, though there were a few others. 131 Marion Avenue, a Colonial Revival-style house, was built in 1922 for Edward W. Thompson, using the designs of Otto Loeffler. That same year, Mediterranean Revival-style 173 St. Paul's Avenue was built for surgeon Dr. Charles L. Reigi, using the designs of James Whitford. In 1923, a house was constructed using the designs of architect A. Schoeler for Emma and Clarence E. Brady. This house was built in the Foursquare-style, with features of Mediterranean Revival-style architecture.
About ten years after Otto Loeffler's Neo-Colonial-style houses began to be built, another prominent Neo-Colonial architect, Henry G. Otto, had houses of his designs built. In 1910, the first of his houses, 151 Cebra Avenue, was constructed for Ernest Lindemann, a realtor and lawyer. That same year, 169 Cebra Avenue, a house of Neo-Colonial and Arts & Crafts-style architecture was built for a Mrs. C. Nordenholt. The following year, 155 Cebra Avenue was constructed for attorney Arnold J.B. Wedemeyer, who had served as a State Assemblyman for a few years and a municipal judge for a few decades. In 1919, the next of Otto's designed was constructed at 45 Pommer Avenue for Captain Ned Alexander Port. In 1921, 35 Marion Avenue and 37 Marion Avenue, two…
In 1887, a handful of houses were constructed in the Queen Anne architectural style. These were 18 Marion Avenue, which was built for George P. Savacool and sold the following year to Henry M. Cattermole, a ferry captain who had operated the ferry between Manhattan and Staten Island at the age of twenty; 387 St. Paul's Avenue, which was designed by Hugo Kafka, Sr, of the firm Kafka & Lindenmeyr, for brewery owner George Bechtel, who had it built for his daughter Anna and her husband Leonard Weiderer; 403 St. Paul's Avenue, which was built for merchant John C. Siemer; and 413 St. Paul's Avenue, another home built by Siemer, possibly for his daughter Margaretha.
Between 1845 and 1860, Italianate architecture became very popular on Staten Island. During this time, a sextet of altered Italianate houses was built in, what is now the Stapleton Heights Historic District. These are 417 St. Paul's Avenue, which was originally located elsewhere, but moved by John Siemer during the late 1880's; 210-212 St. Paul's Avenue, which has been built with Second Empire modifications for Israel Denyse; 364 St. Paul's Avenue, which had been sold by Albert Ward to maritime pilot John Martino; 168 Cebra Avenue, which had been sold to broker James Wood, also by Albert Ward; 356 St. Paul's Avenue, the home of Sandy Hook pilot Thomas H. Metcalfe, who had also purchased his land from Albert Ward; and 352 St. Paul's Avenue, home of…
In March of 2004, a public hearing was held by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in which twenty-one speakers testified in favor of making an area of Staten Island a Historic District. Their area of choice was located in Stapleton Heights, along a section of St. Paul's Avenue and portions of neighboring streets. These streets include Cebra Avenue, Dyson Street, Marion Avenue, Occident Avenue, Pommer Avenue, Taxter Place, and Trossach Road. In August of that same year, they addressed their proposal to the City Council. One month later, it was accepted.
