Members of the Freehold Township Heritage Society are trying to raise funds to move the John M. Boude house to the Oakley farmstead museum complex, Wemrock Road. MICHAEL BERMAN FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — A piece of Freehold Township’s history is at risk of being lost to a housing subdivision.
The 1860 John M. Boude house, a Civil War era Italianate colonial, is on land that is scheduled to be developed in October. Unless funds are raised to move the house, which sits on a 10.5-acre parcel at the corner of Gully and Wemrock roads, it will be demolished and gone forever.
“The goal is to preserve and repurpose the Boude house for public uses such as teaching and the arts,” said Michael Berman, vice president of the Freehold Township Heritage Society (FTHS) and a member of the Freehold Township Historic Preservation Commission.
The heritage society, a nonprofit organization that was established as a nonofficial body to assist with projects designated by the historic preservation commission, works to promote the public understanding of the municipality’s historic past.
“The planned relocation and re-purposing of the John M. Boude house to the Oakley farmstead museum complex is a fantastic opportunity to preserve and continue this historic home’s journey through history for generations to come, as well as to enhance the historic Oakley farmstead museum complex,” Berman said.
In an effort to save the Boude house from being demolished, the heritage society is working to raise funds that would be used to move the Boude house across Wemrock Road to the Oakley farmstead museum complex.
The relocation and preservation of the Boude house will enhance and enrich the historic fabric of the Oakley complex and add much needed exhibit and program space to engage, inspire and educate generations to come, according to the township’s website.
“The home will provide exhibit space to tell the Civil War history of western Monmouth County, as well as provide much needed program and gallery space at the complex. Educational programs, musical and theatrical performances, as well as craft exhibits, would be part of the mix at the restored and repurposed historic home,” Berman said.
In order to move the Boude house to the Oakley complex, place it on a foundation and restore the exterior, $275,000 is needed. This would comprise the first phase of the project, according to Berman.
“Phase two plans include an appropriately scaled and architecturally sensitive addition to the rear section of the home, adding approximately 2,100 square feet of additional exhibit and program space. The addition will allow for larger exhibits, film projection and programming possibilities of all kinds, including musical, theatrical and dance,” he said.
Yellow Brook Properties, the developer of the nine-home subdivision that will be constructed on the parcel at Gully and Wemrock roads, will financially contribute to the relocation of the Boude house, Berman said.
In addition, the developer will build a new house that will be modern on the inside, but look like the Boude house on the outside, on the current site of the existing Boude house, according to Cheryl Cook, Freehold Township’s historian and a member of the historic preservation commission. That course of action will maintain the historic viewshed from the Oakley farmstead museum complex.
The new subdivision plans consist of a nine-home development with residential lots that will range from 26,924 square feet — a little more than a half-acre — to 42,813 square feet, or about 1 acre. Yellow Brook Properties has received approval to build the homes.
Deed records dated 1859 show a transfer of land to John M. Boude, the son of James Boude, a well-to-do farmer in West Freehold. Census information and death records reveal that James Boude was born in 1797 and his family was of English descent, possibly having a presence in New Jersey as early as the mid to late 17th century.
The Boude house features architectural details such as ornamental cornices with modillions, scroll brackets, saw tooth frieze moldings and segmental arch windows with pronounced cornices. The home retains an original four-panel double door with a segmental arch transom light.
Donations to support the preservation project may be made to the Freehold Township Heritage Society/Boude House Fund, 189b Wemrock Road, Freehold, NJ 07728. Credit card donations can be made on the website crowdrise.com by searching “Save the Boude House.” For more information, call 732-577-9766 or send an email to the ftheritagesociety@gmail.com