92 Harrison Street

Tremendous Two Family being used as Single Family home. A Designated New York City Landmark in Stapleton's Harrison Street Enclave Some houses are simply old. This one is historic — a New York City individual landmark with a provenance reaching back to the men and women who first imagined Stapleton into being. Set on a generous corner lot where Harrison Street meets Quinn, 92 Harrison Street is widely believed to be the oldest house on its street: a stately two-and-a-half-story Greek Revival "temple," its gable end turned proudly toward the street like the front of a small Athenian portico. Raised on a high brick basement and crowned by a pedimented roof, it has presided over this hilltop corner since the mid-1800s, when Staten Island's north shore was a constellation of villas, gardens, and ferry landings rather than the dense neighborhood it would become. A House Born of Stapleton's Founding Family — The story here is woven into the founding of the village itself. The house is tied to the family of Daniel D. Tompkins — the fourth Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States under James Monroe — whose son Minthorne Tompkins, with partner William J. Staples, gave Stapleton both its street grid and its name. Early accounts associate the house with Susan M. Tompkins Smith, the Vice President's daughter; the Landmarks records it as built for Richard G. Smith around 1853-54. Either way, this is a home that descends directly from the people who built the neighborhood around it. The LPC called it "an exceptionally fine and remarkably intact example of the vernacular Greek Revival style" — and the only house on Harrison Street built in the full temple form. Quite literally, one of one. What the House Offers — A full-width columned front porch; corner pilasters rising to a heavy classical cornice with frieze and dentil course; a pedimented gable crowned by a graceful tripartite fan-shaped lunette window; floor-to-ceiling parlor windows; ori clapboard and green louvered shutters; a rare two-story enclosed rear porch; and a commanding corner lot on a gentle incline that makes the house a focal point of the block. A Canvas for Its Next Chapter — 92 Harrison Street is ready for a steward, not just a buyer. After generations of life under this roof, it's waiting for a sensitive, loving renovation — a chance to refresh systems and finishes while honoring the craftsmanship that makes it irreplaceable. Bring your vision and your reverence for the past. This is more than a house — it's a piece of the city's story, and it could be yours to write next.