Exploring Golf Island
The Golf Island neighborhood of Maplewood, bordered by the Maplewood Country Club golf course, the Morris and Essex rail line, and the...
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Durand-Hedden News
Feb 21, 2016
From Farm to Suburb: The Birth of College Hill
College Hill is one of Maplewood’s most clearly identifiable neighborhoods due to its roster of collegiate street names: Amherst, ...
Mar 27, 2013
“The Hickories” and Theodore Roosevelt
By Bessie Sharp, in Maplewood Past and Present In 1862 Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, came out from New...
Mar 12, 2013
After The Hickories: The Ackerson Company Houses
The Ackerson Company offered prospective buyers at least six pre-designed house models, as seen by these renderings from their brochure....
Mar 8, 2013
The Hickories: A Fashionable Country Retreat
The C.V.S. Roosevelt Jr. mansion, built c. 1865, was a rambling country estate known as “The Hickories.” Its prominent tower would have ...
Sep 30, 2010
Catching the Spirit
In a 220-year-old house, it is not unreasonable to think (hope?) that someone’s ghost is still wandering about the place. Does the...
Feb 16, 2010
The American Four Square
A practical, adaptable and livable home-grown original Four-squares are the “little black dress” of American residential architecture –...
Feb 16, 2010
Edward Balch: Builder and Visionary in Early 20th C. Maplewood
Edward C. Balch, who lived in Maplewood from 1890 until his death in 1934, was one of the most prominent builders of the time. In 2010,...
Feb 1, 2009
Kenneth Dalzell: A Maplewood Architect Rediscovered
How much do the style of a house and its neighbors impact the way Maplewood looks and feels? What may seem to be an intangible quality –...
Mar 8, 2008
After the Hickories: William Howard Curtiss: Visionary or Failed Promoter?
The executors of the C.V.S. Roosevelt Jr. estate were enmeshed in a long dispute over his will, but upon its resolution, William Howard...
Mar 8, 2008
After the Hickories: Thomas Benton Ackerson, Master Developer
Thomas Benton Ackerson, owner of the eponymous T. B. Ackerson Company, entered the Roosevelt Park story in 1904. A developer of houses...
Oct 31, 2007
Old Windows: Preserving and restoring the soul of the house
Are you thinking of buying new windows in order to be energy efficient and save money? Think again! Your home’s original windows can be...
Jan 12, 2006
Gustav Stickley and the Craftsman Home
“Lifestyle” is a concept that seems very modern, but the work of Gustav Stickley, architect, furniture designer and manufacturer, ...
Nov 1, 2002
Postcards from the Past: Glimpses of Our Towns From a Century Ago
Vintage postcards allow us to step back in time 100 years ago to explore the streets, neighborhoods and buildings of our communities as ...
Feb 1, 2001
Flooring by the Numbers
Restoration of an old house is an ongoing process. In 2000, as Island Housewrights restoration experts worked to finish stripping the ...
May 31, 2000
A Brief History of The Durand-Hedden House
The Durand-Hedden House, whose original structure was built in about 1790, sits on two acres of the original plantation that was part of a...
Dec 1, 1999
Timothy Ball House - 1743
425 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood The Timothy Ball House is one of the most interesting and impressive early houses in the region, both...
Dec 1, 1999
Jonas Ball House - 1750
88 Tuscan Road, Maplewood The Jonas Ball House was constructed in 1750 as a cooper shop, made of massive fieldstone and hand-hewn...
Dec 1, 1999
Lewis Pierson House - Vauxhall - 1843
Lewis Pierson, owner of Pierson’s Mill, built the House known as Vaux Hall in 1843. Vaux Hall and the Durand-Hedden House are the only...
Dec 1, 1999
John Beam House - 1913
1 Ridgewood Terrace, Maplewood John Beam House was built in about 1913 by Edward Balch, one of the most important developers in...
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