H.H. Richardson House

Henry Hobson Richardson is one of the most famous American architects of all time, known for designing a number of iconic structures including Trinity Church in Boston, the John J. Glessner House in Chicago and the Warder-Totten House [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/warder-totten-house] in DC. So it should be no surprise that the man designed a lovely home for his family during his time in New York, one that still stands today on the north shore of Staten Island.

Born in Louisiana, Richardson would eventually attend Harvard College and Tulane University, where he studied civil engineering but eventually shifted his focus to architecture. He eventually got to study in Paris under Louis-Jules André as a student at the École des Beaux Arts, only the second American to attend the architectural program. On his return to the states, he settled in New York and began work on a number of structures throughout the Northeast. At first he lived in Brooklyn, but before long fellow architect Frederick Law Olmsted convinced him to move to Staten Island.

The house he built for his family is located in the neighborhood of Arrochar, just a block away from the entrance to Fort Wadsworth. It's a Stick-style house with a high mansard roof and intricate iron cresting, an elaborate design influenced by his Beaux Arts training. The house even had gas pipes, despite gas not being available in that part of the city at the time. The house was completed by 1869, and Richardson moved in with his wife and first child in January. 

For the next few years Richardson worked on buildings throughout the region, and was often sick and worked from home. When he received the commission to design Trinity Church in Boston, he worked on it for two years in New York before moving to Brookline, Massachusetts, so he could oversee the rest of the construction in person. 

The house remained in the family even after they left for Boston, eventually being sold the year after Richardson's death to Adolphus King, a wealthy businessman and property owner. His heirs sold it on again, and it was subdivided into rental units at some point. In 1946, the ground floor was converted into a physicians' office, a function which it still serves today.