Hopewell Library Friends slate spring house tour

By: centraljersey.com
Take the "Stroll Through Hopewell" – a house tour featuring homes and historic buildings of Hopewell on April 17 from 1-5 p.m.
The self-guided tour will start at the railroad station in Hopewell Borough and will feature eight houses and historic buildings of varied styles, including Arts and Crafts, Victorian and Post-Victorian houses, a converted church and the Old School Baptist Meetinghouse.
Light refreshments will be served at the railroad station throughout the afternoon.
Tickets cost $25 each and can be purchased at www.friendsofthehopewelllibrary.com or at the Hopewell Public Library, 13 E. Broad St.
For more information, call 466-1625. All proceeds benefit the Friends of the Hopewell Public Library.
Two stops on the tour are:
2 W. Broad St. – The home of Mel and Carrie Johnson. The timeline for this 225-year-old house began in 1779, when Timothy Bush posted the lot for sale in his store in Hopewell. In 1789, the Rev. John T. Blackwell and his wife, Susan, bought the house and the adjoining 15 acres, bringing the western property line to approximately halfway into the current Old School Baptist Meetinghouse graveyard. Dr. George Whitefield Case bought the house in 1804 from the son of the Rev. Blackwell, and, in 1805, sold most of the land west of the house. After Dr. Case’s death in 1842, Daniel and Elizabeth Blackwell, as well as Benjamin Merrell, bought some of the acreage. At some point between 1855 and 1875, an addition doubled the size of the house. In 1887, the house was divided into two separate residences.
The Van Dyke family owned the house from the early 1900s until 1947, when their heirs sold the house to John Guinness. In the early 1980s, Mr. Guinness’ wife sold the house to a German couple. The house was sold again in 2000 to Robert McKinley and Tama Broswell, who renovated the apartments back into a single-family residence. The house was gutted, and the McKinley/Broswell family installed new windows, sheetrock, mechanical systems including HVAC, electrical wiring, plumbing and lighting, as well as new bathrooms, tile and wood flooring throughout.
In 2004, the Johnsons purchased the house, despite the absence of a kitchen. From 2004-09, the Johnsons continued the renovation process, adding a kitchen, trim work, plantation shutters, a bluestone patio and ironwood deck in back, a bluestone walkway and steps in front, and landscaping, plantings and beds.
Both fireplaces are original features of the house. The living room fireplace is bricked in, as was the trend when other sources of heating became available, and is not useable. The kitchen, however, has a working shallow cooking fireplace, complete with kettle arm. The back circular staircase and some of the original wood timbers were kept intact near the kitchen, main stairwell and the stairs leading to the basement.
9 Burton Ave. – The home of Lisa Herschbach and Ian Stanley. In 1906, the house was built as a two-bedroom Arts and Crafts bungalow to be used as a summer cottage for a Philadelphia doctor. In 1986, owners Tamar and Richard Towson hired Hopewell resident and architect Michael Mills to design a major renovation in which the second downstairs bedroom was converted into an additional bedroom and bathroom space. The kitchen was expanded and renovated, and the Towsons converted the original outdoor porches into a mix of enclosed porches and additional indoor space.
The current owners purchased the house in 2002. Interior renovations included the addition of a rear dormer window that takes advantage of the view of the bordering Ruggieri farm, replacing all of the upstairs windows, and completely renovating the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.
The kitchen area was refreshed by moving and painting cabinetry, updating appliances, and replacing the ceiling.
On the exterior, overgrown vegetation and dead trees were cleared to make the front property a space. A stone retaining wall, patio and stairs were installed on the north side of the house. An enclosed porch off of the patio area was converted into an indoor family room, and the adjacent hallway was converted into a closet and half bath room.