House, at 130 Hopewell-Rocky Hill Road, is known locally as the Stout-Chorley House
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
A brick and stone house built in stages from the late 18th to mid-20th century would be designated as a historic site by Hopewell Township if a proposed ordinance introduced by the Township Committee is adopted as expected.
The house, at 130 Hopewell-Rocky Hill Road and known locally as the Stout-Chorley House, has been recommended for the designation by the township’s historic sites commission.
This is the house, according to Robin McConaughy, that she and husband, Jon, are renovating into a restaurant. “It should be complete early next year,” Ms. McConaughy said Monday.
The McConaughys are co-owners of Double Brook Farm in Hopewell Township and the Brick Farm Market on East Broad Street in Hopewell.
The “Stout family is important in the history of Hopewell Township, David Stout having built the central section in 1822 and burned the brick not only for this house but also the Old School Baptist Meeting House located within modern day Hopewell Borough,” the proposed ordinance states.
The measure adds that Kenneth Chorley, who also lived in the house and was a personal adviser to John D. Rockefeller, “played an important role” in the restoration and preservation of Williamsburg (Virginia) in the early 20th century.
The late Mr. Chorley was once president of Colonial Williamsburg.
The late Charles F. Baunach Sr., a residential building contractor, of Princeton, did an “extensive restoration in the late 1950s of Brickhouse Farm in Hopewell Township for Kenneth Chorley,” according to Mr. Baunach’s November 2003 obituary.
The house “contains a high level of architectural detail not commonly found in the Hopewell Valley and Chorley’s additions are both sympathetic to the original house” as well as “being influenced by the architectural styles prevalent in Colonial Williamsburg,” the proposed ordinance says.
The proposed measure is scheduled for a public hearing and adoption vote at the committee’s July 14 meeting.
In the interim, the measure will be reviewed in writing by the township Planning Board, as is required by state law since the proposed ordinance pertains to land use.