Staten Island Pride

The Staten Island home of Frederick Law Olmsted has passed into the control of the City, which is planning to convert it to a museum:

Preserving a piece of Staten Island history, the Poillon House in Eltingville will become a city-owned park and museum, known as the Olmsted-Beil House Park.

“The family is glad to keep it out of the hands of developers and have the land preserved,” said Mark DeFillo, the 31-year-old grandson of Carlton B. Beil, a naturalist who was instrumental in the design of the Greenbelt and whose family lived in the house.

The house also was home to famed landscape architect Frederic Law Olmsted, who designed both Central Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Several of the trees on the property are believed to have been planted by Olmsted.

Built around 1720, the house was landmarked by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1967.

. . .

Acquisition of the property was made possible by $600,000 in City Council money, secured by Councilman Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore).

“This is an important addition to Staten Island’s beautiful parks system,” said Lanza. “The Olmsted-Beil House is an intricate part of Staten Island’s rich architectural and historic heritage.”

Located at 4515 Hylan Blvd., the house is set back from the road and surrounded by trees.

The first owner of the property was Dominic Petrus Tesschenmaker. He acquired a patent on the property from Gov. Thomas Dongan on Nov. 3, 1685, according to a study done by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

In 1696, Jacques Poillon, road commissioner under Governor Slaughter, acquired the property and erected a Flemish-style farmhouse, according to the study.

The house was remodeled in 1837 by Dr. Samuel Akerley, a renowned agricultural reformer, and again in 1848 by Olmsted, who added one and a half stories by raising and extending the existing roofline. He also relandscaped the site before moving to Manhattan in 1853, according to the study.

Somebody add Olmsted to the Wiki!

See also: Other famous Islanders.