STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Chuck Petersen lived in the Biddle House from about two years old through adulthood.
In his story on the Tottenville Historical Society website and upcoming book, he reminisces about his idyllic days in the old Staten Island, Tottenville neighborhood, painting a picture of a perfect town and beautiful life. Chuck Petersen’s parents, Katherine and A. Charles Petersen, purchased the Biddle House in 1942.
Chuck was about two years old; his sister Janice was born in 1940, and his brother Jack was born in 1927. The Henry Hogg Biddle House, constructed in 1845, is situated within Conference House Park. This park spans 260 acres and encompasses five historic homes.
It extends all the way down to the Raritan Bay and Arthur Kill, as detailed by the Tottenville Historical Society. The house at 70 Satterlee Street is on a hill overlooking the bay. Chuck Petersen mentioned that the house had ten fireplaces as its primary heat source and that there was a well located outside the side door.
Further toward the bay, there stood an outhouse. Inside the outhouse, there were three holes—two of them were higher and larger for adults, while one was lower and smaller for children. After the Petersens bought and almost completely renovated the house, they finally moved in by 1945.
The Petersen family enjoyed living in the Biddle House for nearly the next fifty years. It became known to those in Tottenville not as The Biddle House but as “The Petersen House.” Chuck Pe.