Either Claes Arentsen Vechte or his son Hendrick Claessen Vechte built the Old Stone House in 1699 as indicated by the iron numerals on its gable. The Vechtes purchased the land on which the house was built sometime between 1660 and 1689. The deed for their purchase no longer exists, so we do not know exactly when they bought the property, nor which heirs of Cornelis Lambertsen Cool sold it to them. According to Bergen, who cites no sources, Claes Arentsen Vechte purchased the land in Gowanus before 1672.

(From: Life at the Old Stone House, 1636 – 1852, A History of a Farm and its Occupants, By William J. Parry, © 2000)

While what we know as the Old Stone House is in fact a reconstruction, the picture below of the Conference House on Staten Island clearly indicates that what we have is very like what was. For more information, please visit www.theconferencehouse.org