BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff This 19th-century home on Route 537, Freehold Township, which is now surrounded by a new housing development, will be auctioned off by the township, but restrictions will prevent the buyer from making major changes that will alter the structure’s appearance.
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — A piece of local history is about to be placed on the auction block. A 19th-century home on Route 537 just west of Thompson Grove Road will be sold by the township. The minimum bid will be $200,000.
The two-story house is now surrounded by new $750,000 homes on property that was part of the original Jesse Parker Farm.
Cheryl Cook, chairwoman of the Freehold Township Historic Preservation Commission, said the 68-acre parcel belonged to the Clayton family which sold it to Toll Brothers. That firm is building the Clayton Acres residential development. The Clayton family gave the house to the developer and the developer gave it to the township, Cook added.
"The house will be put up for auction but will remain an historic landmark," Cook said. "It was built in 1835 and the barn was built around 1850. [The barn] burned down and was replaced in 1911. It’s one of the largest barns in Monmouth County and it has a slate roof."
Cook said the Parker family was among the earliest settlers in the area. Joel Parker was a governor of New Jersey (1863-66) who was born in a house on Route 537 near Siloam Road.
"The Parkers owned a lot of the land from Siloam Road east," she said.
Potential buyers will be made aware of the restrictions that will come with owning the home.
"The house has to remain exactly the way it is. They can make improvements inside as long as they don’t add on, but they can’t change the architecture of the outside without us having a say about it," Cook said. "It’s a beautiful house with three or four bedrooms, a beautiful living room and a dining room with hutches to store china. There is also a great den with built-ins that could be turned into an office.
"I think the man who lived there was a woodworker. There are a lot of details you don’t see today, like the doors that have unique doorknobs, and a bathroom that is done in art deco style," Cook said.
She noted there is a big shed in the back and a large barn that has all tongue-in-groove interior wallboard.
"The basement has the original fieldstone foundation and has a built-in fireplace made out of fieldstone with a coal chute," Cook said, noting that the house is in move-in condition, but needs paint on the outside. "It has to be done in a heritage color. We’re hoping that someone will come in and see the historic significance of it."
There is reason for the township to be hopeful the right buyer will come forward because this is the same procedure officials used to sell the J.F.T. Forman house on Route 537 near East Freehold Road. The home was sold for $55,000 and the purchaser, Michael Berman, restored it.
Berman was later honored by the Monmouth County Historical Commission for an outstanding contribution to the preservation of important county landmarks.
"The town had the deed to the landmark house and it was sold to Michael Berman as a landmark site so that it had to remain in the same architecture," Cook explained. "He did a beautiful job on that house. It’s even nicer than it was before. He brought in craftsmen from Vermont to do the carriage house. That’s what we are looking to achieve."