The Conference House is named in honor and commemoration of the famous peace conference of 1776.  On September 11, 1776, Continental Congress representatives John Adams, Edward Rutledge, and Benjamin Franklin met with the King's representative, Lord Richard Howe, at Colonel Christopher Billopp's home on Staten Island.  The British would not consider independence a negotiable term and the congressional representatives had been authorized only to negotiate terms that included independence.  No reconciliation was reached.  With the failed peace conference, both the Crown and the colonists faced the inevitability of war.

The Conference House (formerly known at the Billopp House) is a two-story, rubble stone masonry building constructed circa 1680 by Captain Christopher Billopp.   Originally a rectangle in plan, with two rooms and a center hall on each level, the house was extended in the 18th century with the addition of a one-and-a-half story kitchen wing.  The wing was constructed of rubble stone and clapboard.  The steep gable roof is distinguished by brick gable ends and parapets.