By Madelynne Kislovsky
For the first time, Rumson has a catalogue of its most historic homes. Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl and the Borough Council have put together a committee of five Rumson residents that composed the catalogue of about 250 Rumson properties that are considered historic for various reasons.
“In many cases, it’s the architecture of the home, that represents a certain style or period,” said Ekdahl. “It could also be the location of the home, or any number of other reasons why it is deemed historic.”
The Historic Preservation Commission is made up of five members, including Chairman Charles Shay, James Fitzmaurice, Ross Millhiser Jr., Steven Peterson and Roberta Van Anda. Fitzmaurice and Peterson have architectural backgrounds, and all members of the commission have an interest in history and preservation, and used their various strengths to compose the registry.
“It’s amazing, they can just look at a house and within three minutes tell you the type of architecture it is,” Ekdahl said.
The commission was put together due to concern in the Rumson community about the destruction of many historic homes to make room for newer homes to be built. If a homeowner requests the planning or zoning board for their home to be torn down, the role of the commission is to present an argument to the planning board that explains the historic status of the property, and ask for a reconsideration of the destruction of the home.
“This does not mean that the home will be forever saved, and it is not guaranteed that the home will not be torn down, because the homeowners still have rights. But it’s the best we can do to put some pressure on the owners asking them to reconsider the options they have other than tearing it down,” Ekdahl said.
The commission was put together about five years ago, and after a lot of turnover of volunteers and discussion of the mission, decided to use an online platform to distribute the registry. The commission, which meets once a month, divided up sections of the town and identified properties that seemed to fit the historic criteria. Using the borough’s information and tax records, the list of potential homes were then looked into further. Many homes were cut out, primarily if a homeowner had altered the home with modernized additions.
Out of the 3,000 properties in Rumson, the list was narrowed down to about 250 homes. “While there are additional properties that met the age criteria, they have been modified to such an extent that the original structure is unrecognizable and therefore are not included in the inventory,” said Shay, on the Historic Preservation Commission.
According to Roberta Van Anda, a member of the commission, the registry was created to “instill some pride in the town of Rumson, to show that people care about these houses and don’t want them to be torn down. The mayor and council wanted this list composed so people would know what the histories of these properties are. It’s a resource for those interested in the town who want to know what type of properties are available.”
The registry will stay away from print and remain an online resource. According to Van Anda, most of the houses of the registry are at least 100 years old. Any that are younger than this are on the list due to famed previous homeowners, such as one house located in the village of Rumson that was owned by famous boxer Mickey Walker. “It’s almost too late, since so much has been torn down already,” said Van Anda.
The site went live on Nov. 2. The Rumson Update newsletter was also released on Friday advertising the interactive site and the list of historic homes. The site shows a photo of the home, the address, the block and lot number, and the year the property was built, if known. The homeowner is not named, but the reason why the structure is significant and historic is explained, such as the type of architecture it features.
There is a “Gone But Not Forgotten” page as well, with photographs of some properties that have already been torn down.
The historic homes registry is located completely online, with an interactive website where homeowners of these historic properties can send an email to the commission with further information on their home, such as the year it was built. “This is now the fun, easier part as homeowners are starting to get interactive,” said Ekdahl. “The base of knowledge will only get better as residents help us out. If the homeowner knows more about the property than we do, we want them to tell us, so we can add these facts to the site, including when it was built, or what type of architecture it is. Most of these residents had no idea that their homes were chosen.”
Ekdahl believes that there will be no more than 25 houses added to the registry in the future, if that, since the commission was thorough in their research. If a homeowner believes their home should be added to the list, they can contact the commission and present their argument before the board at the next meeting. According to Ekdahl, this has already occurred.
The historic homes registry can be found at www.rumsonnj.gov/rhpc/welcome and the email to contact the commission is HPC@rumsonnj.gov.
