STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A woman who, just days ago, agreed to purchase the historic Neville-Tysen House in New Brighton was rushed to an area hospital today after the floor gave way in 200-year-old home and she fell down a 12-foot well.

Officials would not release information on her condition, but a source at the scene said she was in and out of consciousness.

She is believed to be in her 60s.

Emergency officials were summoned to the 806 Richmond Terrace property just after noon.



Officials on the scene said the well was 10-feet wide, 12-feet deep and made of stone. She fell to the bottom, they said.

Richmond Terrace was blocked off between Tysen Street and Clinton Avenue to accommodate the emergency response. Several helicopters hovered overhead.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission dated the house's construction to the pre-Revolutionary War era, but Staten Island historians believe it was built after 1776.

Judge Jacob Tysen (1773-1848) lived in the house from 1808 to 1835, and at the time, the residence was described as "one of the beauty spots of the North Shore."

But the historic property was described as being in "decrepit condition," and "not for the budget-minded or faint of heart," when it was on the market late last year with a $350,000 asking price.