Painted Lady

Victoriana charm at Kuser Farm Mansion

By: Loretta Sherman

"The
Photo
courtesy of Hamilton Township Historical Society
The


Kuser Farm Mansion, a Queen Anne-style house, was the 19th century summer
home of New York City residents Fred and Teresa Kuser.

 
‘The


Kuser story is never ending
because they did so much…’

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   Residents of Mercer County might not regard Hamilton Township as a country getaway, but in the late 19th century, Fred and Teresa Kuser thought it was the ideal place to build a summer home.
   Seeking quiet respite from their New York City residence, the Kusers hired contractors to build their summer home in Hamilton Township in 1891.
   From July, 1892, the Kusers, along with their 10 children, enjoyed summer holidays there until Mr. Kuser died in 1937. The Kuser Farm Mansion (as it is known today) was bequeathed to the Kusers’ four sons. The eldest son, Frederick (Fritz) bought the mansion from his brothers in 1942. Fritz and his wife, Edna, lived there until 1976 when it was sold to Hamilton Township.
   With the assistance of Green Acres funds, Hamilton Township officially opened The Kuser Farm Park to the public in 1977. Guided tours of the Kuser mansion, located in Kuser Farm Park, were added in 1979. Visitors to the park can find entrances to the historic house museum at 390 Newkirk Ave. and also on Kuser Road.
   A tour of Kuser Farm Mansion, a Queen Anne style home, provides an opportunity for visitors to catch a glimpse of life in the latter part of the 19th century.
   The three-story mansion contains 22 rooms, however, only 17 rooms on the first and second floors are open to visitors. Most rooms are decorated with original pieces.
   "Some rooms you can walk through and some you can peek into," said Denise Zemlansky, curator of the house museum.
   A guided tour takes about one hour. Visitors can also arrange for a quick walk through tour which is about 30 minutes long.
   According to Ms. Zemlansky, however, one tour isn’t enough because there is so much to see. "People keep coming back for more," she said.

"Teresa
Teresa and Fred Kuser were noted for their passion for entertaining guests at the 19th century Victorian mansion.

Photo courtesy of Hamilton Township Historical Society

   Visitors touring the mansion can see life-sized mannequins displayed in settings depicting life during the early 1900s. During the winter holidays, a Victorian Christmas is featured at the house. Decorations are used to recreate the atmosphere of the holiday and mannequins are dressed in holiday garb. They can be seen gathered in the drawing room singing carols at the piano.
   "In reality, we created Christmas how we imagined it to be if the Kusers lived at the mansion at that time," Ms. Zemlansky said.
   Mannequin costumes, displays and tours change throughout the year.
   While there, visitors can also check out "The Kuser Story," a booklet written by Edna Kuser and published in 1992 by Hamilton Township to commemorate the mansion’s 100th anniversary. Of the mansion’s construction, Ms. Kuser wrote: "German craftsmen worked tirelessly and meticulously on the match grain quartered oak paneling and the ornately carved fireplaces. Fine ceramic tiles were imported and installed in the fireplaces on the first and second floors of the home."
   The mansion’s first floor includes: the drawing room, morning room, sunroom, pantry, large kitchen, the famous theater in the dining room with its 18-foot curved screen, and a projection room.
   Four bedrooms are located on the second floor. The Mercer Motor Car — a car manufactured by the Kuser and Roebling families — movie mementos and a sitting room are also featured on the second floor.
   The Kuser Farm Mansion houses a video library and tourism center. In addition, a laundry house, coach house, gazebo, barn, garages, corn crib, chicken house, windmill, tennis house, The Pavilion, tennis court and airplane hangar are on the grounds of Kuser Farm Park.
   Among its beautiful rooms and grounds, the Kusers were noted for their great passion for entertaining guests on a regular basis. Between 1892 and 1926, Edna Kuser wrote: "Quite often, there would be 20 people at mealtimes at Kuser Farm, including visiting friends and relatives. Some of the friends from New York City included: George C. Boldt, owner of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; Wilson Hatch Tucker, owner of Lord and Taylor; E.T. Mander, general passenger agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad; and governors of New Jersey during that period were also guests at the Farm."

"Kuser
Photo courtesy of Hamilton Township Historical Society

   Most of those guests enjoyed meals in the dining room of the house, according to Ms. Zemlansky. "The dining room table is quite an amazing piece," she said. "It could expand to 4-by-14 feet to seat 16 people or close to a square. The table is made with the same type of oak wood as the fireplace. The dining room chairs are also carved. The seats and seat backs are blue leather to match the tile in the fireplace. Chairs may look alike but the carvings are not the same," Ms. Zemlansky added.
   The dining room was also known as the Kuser Farm Theatre. In addition to dining there, family and guests were entertained by viewing movies. At first, magic lantern slides were shown in the 45-foot room. (A magic lantern
was an early type of slide projector.) These were projected onto a canvas screen which was stretched over a wooden frame. Later on, a regular movie screen was used to show silent film.
   The Kusers were among the early organizers in the film industry. The family helped finance William Fox to start the Fox Film Corp.
   "In 1919, Frederick Kuser bought a pair of 35 mm silent motion picture projectors. Soon, he was running regular silent Fox Film features every Sunday night for the family and invited friends," Edna Kuser wrote.
   As motion pictures evolved from silent movies and movies with sound to wide screen films, the screen in the dining room theater was eventually replaced with an 18-foot curved Cinema Scope screen. At some point, a separate projection room was added to the mansion which adjoins the dining room, Ms. Zemlansky pointed out.
   Guests to the Kuser Farm Mansion enjoyed films such as: "Smart Woman," starring Mary Astor; "The Mark of Zorro," starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell; "Moon Over Miami," starring Betty Grable and Don Ameche; "Hello Dolly," starring Barbra Streisand; and many others.

"Visitors
Visitors to the Kuser Mansion can observe mannequins attired in 19th century style.

Photo courtesy of Hamilton Township Historical Society

   Members of the Kuser family owned preferred stock in the Fox Film Corp. In 1934, they surrendered their shares of the stock to make possible a merger with Twentieth Century film company. Today, the film company is known as Twentieth Century Fox.
   Aside from the popular dining room, guest also huddled in the large country kitchen that boasts a coal-wood stove with two ovens and an ice box.
   Three commercial-type ice boxes are also in the cellar. "These were not the average ice boxes," Ms. Zemlansky said. "They (the Kusers) would put about 300 pounds of ice in them. Although it took a while for all ice to melt, ice was not a problem for the Kusers because they owned the B.C. Kuser Coal and Ice Co. and the Trenton Hygenia Ice Co.," she said.
   Family members ate in the dining room, however, when Fritz and Edna Kuser took over the mansion they had an eating booth built in the kitchen and they ate there, Ms. Zemlansky said. Edna and Fritz Kuser hosted gourmet suppers in the massive kitchen.
   "Everyone pitched in with the chopping and peeling and cooking, usually under the direction of a house guest noted for his/her cooking ability," Edna Kuser wrote.
   The bedrooms on the second floor are a myriad of colors. The rose bedroom, is the master suite. The windows in this room have curved glass. Its walls are covered with pink flowered wallpaper and the room has a petite fireplace.
   "The tiles in this fireplace are gold and white which are inset in a wooden mantle. There is also a beveled glass mirror," Ms. Zemlansky said.

"A
A late painting of Teresa Kuser embellishes a nursery wall.

Photo courtesy of


Hamilton Township Historical Society

   The remainder of the bedrooms are children’s rooms and a guest bedroom. One is delft, one is gold and one is brass.
   Hamilton Township converted two other bedrooms on this floor into a sewing/sitting room and an office that is decorated with pictures found in the projection room.
   "Originally, the two back rooms were boys’ rooms. Since Edna used one of the rooms as a sewing room, we decided to use that room as an opportunity to display some clothing from the Victorian era and after which were donated to the mansion," Ms. Zemlansky said.
   There are three bathrooms and one powder room on the second floor. The original two bathrooms were blue and pink. "The basic colors of the blue and pink bathroom walls and floor tiles were white. The floor in each bathroom had a thin band of pink or blue tile. The white tile walls were enhanced with a decorative blue or pink border of tiles at the top as well. All tiles were selected by Theresa Kuser.
   Guests from many walks of life stayed at the mansion. Between 1926 to 1976, Edna Kuser noted, "On weekends, it was not unusual to find every guest room filled; prominent people from the theatrical, motion picture, business and social worlds would come from New York for a weekend of tennis, parties, relaxation and enjoyment in the wonderful peace and quiet of the country life at Kuser Farm."
   Ms. Zemlansky’s job as curator began in June 1978. She researched the home by studying the house, by taking trips to the public library and by talking to Fritz and Edna Kuser.
   "There were areas in the house that I had questions about. I had them to ask," Ms. Zemlansky pointed out. "The Kuser story is never ending because they did so much. If I had 100 more years to devote to the house, I could still come up with more information. I think that is what makes the house so interesting."
   Tours are scheduled in conjunction with a series of lectures, demonstrations, and video programs are held throughout the year at Kuser Farm Mansion. Currently, the house is closed and undergoing renovations. Scheduled events will be held elsewhere until renovations are completed. Self guided walking tours of the grounds are available. Call (609) 890-3630 for information about tours and programs.
Loretta Sherman is a free-lance writer whose work appears frequently in Packet Magazine. She enjoys writing about health, home design and culinary arts.