Township mulls repairs to historic home

Analysis underway to determine

extent of damage form water leak
By:Alec Moore
   The Van Derveer House, Hillsborough’s most prominent historic home, may not remain a historic home for too much longer if vital repairs and restorations are not made to the 260-year-old house on Route 206 soon.
   Earlier this month, the Township Committee announced that flooding inside the home — caused by a ruptured water tank — has sped deterioration of the home, which had been deemed uninhabitable by township building inspectors last year.
   "I want this home preserved," said Mayor Tony Gwiazdowski. "This house is too rich in history to just let it deteriorate and fall down."
   The Township Committee is currently conducting a cost analysis on the Van Derveer House at the suggestion of Committeewoman Sonya Martin, to determine how much it will cost to renovate the aging structure.
   The committee had considered putting the home up for sale but ultimately choose to conduct the cost analysis before the township hands over the deed to a new owner.
   "This house is a Hillsborough treasure — it must be preserved," said Ms. Martin.
   Regardless of the exact restoration amount — which officials expect to be fairly hefty — the committee hopes to acquire outside funding to cover the cost of restoring the home.
   "We’re going to look into grant funding, private foundations and corporate contributions to cover this," the mayor continued. "We want to preserve the Van Derveer house but we absolutely will not do it at the taxpayers expense, we can’t expect them to pay any more than they already are."
   The house had been used by the Hillsborough Municipal Utilities Authority since the 1970s, but vacant after the MUA moved to a new location at Auten and Triangle roads several years ago.