We’ve had visits from Jim Lee of Hunter Research (archaeologists) and Chris Frey of Keystone Preservation (the wall paints and mortar analysis) in the last week, in both cases looking ahead to the research work that is critical to dating and preserving the property. Actual work will have to await warmer weather, probably in late March. But we did map out the areas where the archaeologists will do some digging, and we identified several panels in the parlor where the task of removing the layers of paint atop the wall paintings will begin. Chris was amazed at the extent of the paintings, which he said were usually confined to a single room or two. We plan to invite scholars and students from universities with major preservation programs (Columbia, Drew, Penn) to visit us during some of Chris’ work, and hope that we can find a graduate student or two who might consider doing a thesis or dissertation on the paintings and their preservation. We are going to put the Roseberry house on the map!

We are in the process of writing a formal Preservation Plan for review & approval by the state’s Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), a requirement for properties on the National Register. With all the attachments and appendices, it will probably run to more than 50 pages. That plan will eventually be posted here. In the meantime, we solicit suggestions and opinions from the public as to how the Roseberry house might be used five years from now, when the preservation and restoration process is (probably) complete.

We began our thinking about the Plan many months ago—certainly by last May. Here are the major assumptions we’ve made going into the planning process:

• The site must be available for educational tours and programs for students in the region’s schools
• The site may be used for workshops, lectures, concerts and other history-themed events
• The site should eventually be open regular hours to the general public
• Certain rooms and features (especially the wall paintings) should be available for study by preservation students and scholars
• The site should be an active venue (not merely a house museum) for programs & events during all seasons
• Consideration should be given to space for exhibitions, a library, a colonial garden, and perhaps other functions
• The primary interpretive focus should be the late colonial-early Revolutionary period of American history

We expect to submit the Preservation Plan to SHPO before the end of the month, and hope to begin the initial tasks of investigation and analysis by mid-winter.

The Warren County Freeholders awarded a $121,900 preservation grant to the Phillipsburg Area Historical Society for restoration of the Roseberry Homestead at their regular meeting Wednesday evening. Almost a dozen other preservation projects in the county also gained funding. The building, erected between 1750 and 1770, has many connections to late colonial and early Revolutionary War figures.

The money will enable development of a long-range preservation plan, required by the state’s Historical Preservation Office because the Roseberry Homestead is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It will also fund major work to secure the site, install authentic period windows and doors, and repair the masonry of the large stone building. The attached kitchen will eventually be restored to its eighteenth-century condition, but that will depend on additional funding.

Historical Society President Randy Piazza said “It is unlikely that we’ll begin any significant preservation work until February, at the earliest, because of the planning involved,” but he noted that the building will continue to open for occasional tours and special events, even during the restoration work. The public can follow the progress of the work and see what’s going on here at the preservation project’s blog.

On Friday, November 13 we lost Scott Curzi, the driving force behind the push to preserve the Roseberry house. He had a heart attack on Monday, and although he seemed to be recovering, died on Friday. Most of you who read this knew Scott and knew what he meant to Phillipsburg—we didn’t require the local papers remind us of his many preservation efforts with the buildings along South Main. But only a few knew about another half dozen (at least) other projects and activities he sponsored or assisted with. The town should be draped in black, and flags flown at half-mast in recognition of what we have lost. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious, and seemingly boundless. And now he has been taken from us.

The drive to preserve and restore the Roseberry house will continue; we have resolved that it will not miss a step because of his absence. Generations yet unborn will eventually learn something of the town’s connection to the late-Colonial and Revolutionary era in their tours of the house, but those who knew Scott will see little reminders of him and his continuing presence in the house itself, and we will recall the energy, the usually paint-splattered sweatshirts that he wore, the impulsive acts of kindness, his commitment to the town and its history, and his ability to suffuse some of the simplest tasks of restoration with a significance that stimulated us to greater effort.

The Warren County Municipal and Charitable Conservancy Trust Fund Committee met on November 9th and voted unanimously to recommend that the Warren County Freeholders approve our application for a $247,000 grant to stabilize and preserve the Roseberry Homestead. This is a very big first step. If the Freeholders approve (and we have some confidence they will—money for the grant has already been encumbered) then we expect to have a very busy year.

We’ll have funds to engage an architect (Michael Margulies) to help us prepare a long-range Preservation Plan and to supervise contractors who will actually carry out the many tasks needed to secure the shell of the building; to fund the work of archaeologists (Hunter Research) to dig under the kitchen floor and around the perimeter of the building; and to pay preservation specialists (Keystone Preservation Group and possibly others) to study and preserve the wall paintings and stenciling. Included in the application was funding for completely repointing the stone work, installing authentic reproduction windows and doors, reconstructing the front porch, and restoring the attached kitchen to its eighteenth-century condition.

None of that work can technically begin before about February 2010, but our planning will begin almost immediately. That Preservation Plan will have to be approved by the state’s Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and all work will be done strictly in accordance with the guidelines issued by the U. S. Department of the Interior (which are available via a link on this blog). Long before we bring that preservation plan to SHPO (better get used to that acronym—you’ll be hearing  it a lot) we’ll sketch out a preliminary version for the Phillipsburg Area Historical Society and seek comments and suggestions—this is a task for public participation, not just something for the professionals.

We’d like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to the Pohatcong Historical Society for their achievement in getting the FInesville-Siegletown Historic District on the NJ Register of Historic Places. Next step for them is the National Register of Historic Places. We visited several houses in the District during the recent house tour – they have some fine properties.

Well-attended, even on a rainy blustery Saturday.

Cars line the parking area...

This way in...

Welcome to the house!

Visitors checking the place out.

I was there around 2 pm. By that time the logbook was filling nicely (about 15-20 visitors by that point). The Society was well represented by Pam and Rich Backes and their son Matt, Sue Brooks and Steve Zarbatany. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Update: We understand from Pamela & Rich that more than 50 people visited, including many seniors.  Scott Curzi deposited $90 in contributions that were gathered that day, which is a very nice total.

We’re going to open the house to the public on October 17, 2009, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Drop in for a look to see how we’re doing on the restoration; learn more about colonial times and the Phillipsburg of old.

I hope my recollections of 40 years ago will be useful to you….

Here’s the full text of an article in the Express-Times following the visit by the Warren County Municipal and Charitable Trust committee.

Warren County Land Preservation officials tour Roseberry Homestead as part of grant approval process

PHILLIPSBURG | Frank Greenagel of the Phillipsburg Historical Society led guests through the Roseberry Homestead and pointed to holes and exposed walls that revealed secrets of the building’s past.

Wooden planks demonstrate an antiquated but reliable method of construction on one room’s bare walls. Tufts of horse hair remain preserved in limestone mortar. A colorful stencil design emerges from beneath a thin layer of paint in the parlor room.

The Georgian-style home would have cost up to 2,000 pounds to build at a time when the average yearly income was 40 pounds.

“Even in New York or Philadelphia,” Greenagel said, this would have been one of the grander homes.”

Greenagel led members of the Warren County Municipal and Charitable Conservancy Trust on a tour Friday, hoping the trust would give the historical society a grant to stabilize and preserve the home. The reconstituted historical is seeking $247,000 for a three-phase preservation project.

Greenagel said he was skittish about how the county’s land preservation office would view the newest efforts to preserve the aging house. Members of the town’s historical society got nearly $100,000 in the 1970s but failed to spend most of the money when the group fell into disarray and abandoned the cause.

“One of the things I was worried about when we applied was, ‘Do we have a bad reputation?’” Greenagel said.

The Warren County freeholders are to decide in December whether the society will receive the money.

Pat MacCallum, a member of the conservancy trust’s board, found the Roseberry Homestead inspiring.

“On a historical level, I think it’s exceptionally worthwhile,” MacCallum said. “It shows where people came from and the type of integrity they had 250 years ago.”