Somerset County Freeholder Director Patrick Scaglione presented ceremonial checks to the county’s 2018 Historic Preservation Grants at the freeholder board’s Oct. 9 meeting.  He was joined by county Historic Sites Coordinator Thomas D’Amico in presenting the $900,000 in grants to the following projects. Visit www.facebook.com/SomersetCountyNJ to view photos.

BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
Voorhees Dutch Barn (Jacobus Vanderveer House)

The barn frame is currently being stored on a tractor trailer on site. The barn will be adaptively re-used as exhibit space and a repository for the archaeological artifacts excavated during the Pluckemin Archaeology Project. It ultimately will include additions housing a small catering kitchen, barrier-free rest rooms and a coat room, all of which will facilitate its suitability as a venue for public, private and corporate events that will help financially sustain the historic property’s future maintenance and operational costs.

Applicant:        The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House

Project:            Reassemble an early 19th-century, three-bay Dutch barn, previously moved from its original location in Branchburg Township to its current location at the Jacobus Vanderveer House site in Bedminster Township. This includes funding for design development and construction documents, Phase I construction services, and Phase I construction. This will include construction of a new foundation; reassembly and repair of the historic barn frame and re-erection of the new foundation and perimeter places; temporary plywood sheathing at walls, foundation flashing, and roof with temporary supplemental framing to support historic rafters and temp roof; building wrap at walls and roll roofing at roof; temporary aluminum gutters and downspouts; first-floor framing and sub-floor; a temporary plywood door; and temporary electric to the barn for temporary lighting and fire alarm.

Award:             $173,790

BERNARDS TOWNSHIP
Kennedy-Martin-Stelle Farmstead

The main block of this Dutch-framed house was constructed prior to the American Revolution. The farmstead also includes a late 18th-century English barn, Dutch-framed wagon house, cow shed and ice house.  The Rev. Samuel Kennedy was a renowned local minister and educator, while Col. Ephraim Martin was a Revolutionary War soldier and New Jersey legislator who was instrumental in securing passage of the Bill of Rights by the legislature. Oliver Stelle was a successful local farmer.

Applicant:        Friends of the Kennedy-Martin-Stelle-Farmstead

Project:            This grant will include adding a reinforced cement slab and incoming electrical service to the cow shed; creating a usable space, such as a terrace, over the original dairy barn foundation; improving safety and accessibility enhancements with two ADA-compliant parking spaces and a walkway from the ADA-compliant parking spaces and between the English barn and cow shed; and a proper egress (door) in the cow shed.

Award:             $197,802

BERNARDSVILLE BOROUGH
Dunster-Squibb Property

The property contains a house, a late 19th-century barn, a late 19th- or early 20th-century caretaker’s cottage, and a smokehouse structure. The earliest part of the house was constructed in the Federal style by John Dunster, a Revolutionary War veteran, in 1805 with additions in 1852. Significant renovations in the Colonial Revival style were performed circa 1905. The 1905 renovations were constructed by Charles Fellows Squibb and designed by Frank Hutton of Hutton and Buys, New York. The property is proposed to be part of the proposed Somerset Hills in the Country Place Era, 1870-1940 multiple-property National Register nomination. The site was included in Preservation New Jersey’s 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in 2007.

Applicant:        Friends of Historic Bernardsville Inc.

Project:            This application requests funds that will make significant improvement to the exterior envelope of the cottage/garage/stable/barn structure. The scope of work includes: scrape and re-putty all original wood windows to make them weather-resistant; replace broken and missing glazing at selected windows; remove and replace split and missing siding, cottage porch post and fascia trim; and paint the entire exterior including siding, trim, windows and doors.

Award:             $41,650

GREEN BROOK TOWNSHIP
Dr. John Vermeule House

A surviving example of a Dutch-framed farmhouse constructed in the late 18th or early 19th century, the house retains much early historic fabric including doors, moldings, plaster and room layout. The house was constructed by Adrian Vermeule, a member of the locally prominent Vermeule family. A Hstoric Structures Report (HSR) and National Register nomination form were previously completed as well as the first phase. The second phase, focusing on the exterior envelope of the building (below the roofline), insulation, electrical upgrade and termite damage, is also completed. The house is nearing full-restoration and will be configured as a house museum, to display to the public the extensive collection of artifacts and furniture acquired with the house.

Applicant:        Green Brook Township

Project:            This application will complete the unfinished aspects of the Phase III objectives as outlined in the 2010 HSR. It will entail interior finishes (plaster and paint) and features (woodworking and trim) as they relate to the second floor, and the construction of an ADA barrier-free ramp to provide proper access to the first floor.

Award:             $124,785

ROCKY HILL BOROUGH
Rocky Hill Borough Hall

The former Rocky Hill School is a brick, two-story, four-classroom, Colonial Revival school house built in 1908 and now used as the Borough Hall. It is considered a pivotal structure in the Rocky Hill Historic District (listed on the National Register of Historic Places).

Applicant:        Borough of Rocky Hill

Project:            This application aims to complete the remainder of the exterior work and continue restoration of the interior. The exterior work includes cleaning and repointing the brick walls, restoring the remainder of the historic wood windows, and replacing a non-historic exterior door with a wood stile-and-rail door.

 Award:            $108,132

Rocky Hill Hook & Ladder Company No. 1

This early 20th-century firehouse, with terra cotta trim, medallion and sign manufactured locally at the Atlantic Terra Cotta Works, is a contributing structure in the Rocky Hill Historic District.

Applicant:        Rocky Hill Hook & Ladder Company No. 1

Project:            The application includes replacing two non-historic side entrance canopies and a metal railing with those providing a historic appearance; repairing the case stone water table at the main façade; restoring interior stairwell plaster; and painting the exterior stucco of the building.  A county historic marker is part of this application also.

Award:             $67,694

SOMERVILLE BOROUGH
Daniel Robert House (Somerville Borough Hall)

Completed in 1888 in the Gothic-Revival style, it was the home of New York businessman Daniel Robert.  It was based on a design by Andrew Jackson Davis, which was executed by Lambert & Bunnell architects of Bridgepoint, Conn.  It was an Elks lodge from 1923 to 1956 and has served as the Somerville Borough Hall since 1958. Previously completed work included restoration of the window sills and framework.

Applicant:        Borough of Somerville

Project:            The project will restore the exterior cornice of the original building by repairing  and painting the existing wood cornice and relining the built-in gutters, as well as providing new cap flashing in limited areas. A county historic marker part of this application as well.

Award:             $126,147

SOUTH BOUND BROOK BOROUGH
Abraham Staats House

This is one of the finest buildings from the second phase of Dutch immigration and settlement in the Raritan Valley. Much original fabric survives from building periods in the 18th and the first half of the 19th century.  The paneling and the corner cupboard in the parlor are among the finest remaining examples of pre-Revolutionary Dutch joinery in Somerset County. Abraham Staats was a respected citizen who held a number of offices including tax collector. The house served as the headquarters for Baron von Steuben during the Middlebrook Cantonment in 1778-1779. General Washington visited the house on a number of occasions.

Applicant:        Borough of South Bound Brook

Project:            The work includes the installation of a sidewalk from the parking lot and an ADA-compliant ramp allowing the site to more fully comply with state and federal ADA regulations to provide access for mobility-challenged visitors. The ramp will be installed at the west end of the house to provide access to the old kitchen with fireplace, where open-hearth cooking demonstrations are performed. Scope of work will include construction cost and related archeological monitoring. Site work: excavation and grading. Concrete: ramp foundations and sidewalk. Masonry: ramp piers, rough framing and walking deck. Other work: handrails and balusters, staining the walking deck, and painting all vertical components.

Award:                         $60,000

The Dr. John Vermeule House in Green Brook is one of eight sites receiving 2018 Somerset County Historic Preservation Grants.