Terrill Road House: A Lesson on Early Architecture?

An 18th Century structure on Terrill Road could provide insight into early architectural styles and construction methods, a preservation consultant told the Historic Preservation Commission Tuesday.

Dennis Bertland of Dennis Bertland Associates presented a "Memo of Findings" to the commission in an update on the nomination of the Dolbeer-Ware House to the National Register of Historic Places. Also known as the Lampkin House, the dwelling comprises three sections built at different times during the mid-18th and early 19th centuries, Bertland said in his report. Though not apparent from the exterior, the house appears to be an example of an "East Jersey Cottage" with "an intermingling of Dutch and English building traditions," the report says.

The report, which is on file in the Planning Division, "provides sufficient evidence to propose a starting point for investigation" and Bertland suggests comparisons to other houses from the time period, such as the Frazee House in Scotch Plains and the FitzRandolph House and Drake House in Plainfield.

"This is the best piece of planning writing I have ever seen," HPC Chairman William Michelson said of the report.

Michelson also asked Bertland how he gleaned information for the report, saying, "I am so impressed."

Bertland said he searched original documents including deeds of surrounding properties. He traced the ownership and history through the centuries, back to the 1600s and the original settlers of Elizabeth. Jesse Dolbeer, a carpenter, lived there in the 1790s, he said, and Harriet Ware later owned it as a summer house for which she made up the Lampkin name by which it has been known in recent attempts to save it.

In 2011, the City Council rejected a plan to use $92,500 in city funds to acquire the Lampkin House, which then was already in serious disrepair. Advocates had proposed the acquisition in order to carry out further fundraising that was not possible while the house was privately owned. It was envisioned as part of a plan to establish a historic museum/nature center with access to a nature trail through the Cushing Road retention basin, but the estimated cost of repairs to the house and barn ran to nearly $1.5 million.

In 2013, a stabilization plan was floated, but an attempt to organize a nonprofit fundraising group fell through.

The current move to nominate the house for the National Register could, if successful, lead to grant funding through Union County to help save it.

--Bernice