Some of our historic homes…

These and many other homes are described in greater detail in the Lore of Upper Saddle River by William Yeomans, available for purchase on our shop page. The homes listed below are in order by their approximate date of construction. The Hopper-Goetschius house has its own page. Scroll to the bottom to learn about many of the iconic homes and barns that have been demolished of the years.

Van Riper-Hennion house c. 1700s

The Van Riper-Hennion home on Pleasant Avenue is one of the oldest of our stone houses. The stone part of the house was built in the first half of the 18th century, and was the type early settlers built as they got their farms going. It cannot be seen from the road now because it is set way back. According to Claire Tholl, the West Saddle River Road originally went further west and this house would have faced it down the hill, but it was still accessed from Pleasant Avenue. The original stone house was 33’6” x 20” 6” with twin front doors and just two rooms, each with a fireplace at the end. This was not uncommon then when many houses accommodated two adult generations. The Van Riper-Hennion house was standing in 1783 and was bought by Peter I. DeBaun in 1796. Andrew Hennion bought it about the middle of the 19th century. The Hennion family, whose ancestors came to this area in the early 1700s, lived in it for over a hundred years and were responsible for the Downingesque/Italianate addition seen above.

TERHUNE-HOPPER HOUSE C. 1781

The Terhune-Hopper house. Albartus A. Terhune (b. 1720) purchased land from Isaiah Valleau in what is now Upper Saddle River on October 27, 1746 – the era of King George II. There were many Terhune homes built on this property, which ran from where the Methodist Church is today up to Hess Court –  330 acres in all. The Terhune-Hopper stone house on the southwest corner of Lake Street and West Saddle River Road, built about 1781, is the oldest remaining of those houses. There may have been an earlier stone house built in the 1760s a little further north.

NICAUSIE HOPPER house c. 1780

The Nicausie Hopper house, located off Hopper Farm Road, was built on part of a Ramapo Tract lot bought by Nicausie Hopper on May 1, 1787. The tract map shows a house here in 1783. The stone portion of the house is pre-revolutionary, probably built about 1760. The house has undergone many remodelings and additions, but the early stonework is still visible.

Nicausie and his twin brother Jacob were born on December 28, 1760, the youngest sons of John A. Hopper and Elizabeth Kip, who lived in the Hopper-Goetschius house. John’s will, proven in 1787, states that his other sons were to help Nicausie build a one-room stone house such as they each had. Nicausie sold the property left him to his brother. He acquired the property east of the Old Stone Church in 1787 with a house already on it. The house is marked as pre-Revolutionary on Claire Tholl’s map. Nicausie’s descendants lived in the house until the early 1900s.

The Hopper family sold the house in the early 1900s for $6,000, including 157 acres. John Hopper told us his father added a second story and dormers to it to make it more saleable.

terhune-ramsey house c. 1780

The Terhune-Ramsey house on Fawn Hill Road is a frame house that could date to as early as 1780 and was probably a tenant (slave) house. Most of the older homes were on main roads. Prior to 1826, the old road to “Ramseys” went from West Saddle River Road between present day Bogert and Reynolds Schools, and up the hill to about where Forest Road meets Lake Street. There was a side path from that road to this house. The property is on part of Lot #178 of the Ramapo Tract owned by Albert A. Terhune. It was in the Terhune family until 1858. Then Abraham Smith owned it, followed by Isaac H. Terwilliger and then William “Whiskey Bill” J. Ramsey (b.1824) from 1893-1902. Ramsey is said to have operated a still there. Holger “Harry” Lorenz Rasmussen (b. 1901) and his sons, Lawrence and Eric, owned the home along with 52 acres around WWII. They subdivided the property and built many of the neighboring homes. The Gigliutto and Weygant families lived in the house in the 1970s and 80s. A cemetery belonging to the property was located to the north of the house, but its location is no longer known.

Van Buskirk-Penner HOUSE   18th century

The Van Buskirk-Penner house on East Saddle River Road, near the New York State line, dates to the 18th century and has had an interesting history. It was the home of David Van Buskirk in pre-Revolutionary days and John D. and Anna M. Van Buskirk by the 1870s. It had several additions so only a portion of a sandstone wall is visible on the exterior. The ‘new’ portion of the house has three walls of brick (unusual for the area) and was built about 1830.

In the early 1900s Michael and John Connolly, restaurateurs and liquor dealers from Jersey City, owned it and started the first State Line Inn there. The lot was 70 acres and they built a pond and a half mile trotting track on top of the hill west of the pond. People boarded their horses and practiced on the race track. In 1937 they sold it to Benjamin Penner Jr. (b. 1892) and his wife Bertha, who were also in the hospitality industry in Jersey City. Their son Joseph (and wife, Grace Witt) ran a swim club there – Penners Lake Park. A portion of the house was used as a restaurant, again called State Line Inn (c. 1944) and later the Red Log Inn (1950s). Ben Penner was on the Board of Education in town. He went into business with Morris Corn, the town’s first school principal and eventually sold the property to the Corns. It was used as a summer day camp run by Morris and Ruth Corn from about 1957-1980. (Corn had been Vice-President of Penners’). In 1985 the remaining 10 acres were subdivided into seven residential lots, but the original house still remains.

John H. Terhune House  c. 1810-1820

The house pictured above is a handsome and largely original example of early 19th Century domestic frame architecture. It has a simple Greek Revival style entrance porch with Doric posts. Note the eyebrow windows, which have been inset into a deep Greek Revival style frieze, as seen in the photo below. John H. Terhune inherited the property from Harmen Terhune, who most likely built the home around 1810. 

Along West Saddle River Road is a stretch of land that once had many Terhune houses on it. Only three remain. All of the school property was on land once owned by Terhunes. Just north of the tennis courts was the Alan Johnstone house (Alan’s mother was a Terhune), which came down around 2010. See our Lost page for information.

In 1916 Walter Bindschaedler, Jr. moved in with his aunt, Bertha Behrmann Anderson, who owned this home. He inherited the house and lived there into the early 1950s. Walter’s parents built a (Sears) house across the street around 1921-25, which Doris Bindschaedler Myers sold to the town in 1969 to be converted into the police station (see the page about our lost structures).

This home was later owned by Stephen and Anne Davis and later Mr. and Mrs. Jack Dorfman.

Bush-Litchult house  c. 1820

This house, also known as the Abraham L. Litchult house, is of significance since it is one of the least altered early 19th century houses in Upper Saddle River. It was built in the vernacular Federal/Greek Revival style and could date to as early as 1810. It is of special interest because the “out kitchen” attached to the house had one end of stone and incorporated a beehive oven. The house underwent renovation and the out kitchen was fully incorporated into the extension, covering the stone portion (seen below).

The house may have been built by a member of the Bush family, but the first known owner was a Litchult. It was included in the County Early Stone House Survey and was featured in Architecture of Bergen County by T. Robins Brown and Schuyler Warmflash, 2001.

This was the long time residence of the Snyder family for five generations, including Cornelius I. Snyder (born in 1849) and his wife, Hester Elizabeth “Ellen” Courter, the aunt of Lizzie Goetschius. Cornelius bought the house in 1879 from Litchult. Snyder had a large farm on the property including apple trees. He willed the house to his grandson, Adrian Snyder, Jr. who inherited it in 1932 when Adrian was only 16 years old. Adrian, Jr. married Josephine Filip of Upper Saddle River and they raised two daughters in this house. He built greenhouses behind the home and sold produce at the Paterson market, as well as Christmas trees from the property. He also operated a farm stand further down West Saddle River Road, which has since been converted to a home. Northern portions of the land (in Rockland County) were subdivided for his two children when they each married. Adrian sold 31 acres of land to a developer, Philip Gustafson, who extended Cherry Lane west alongside the house. The Snyders sold the house in 1954 to Judy Van Riper. He also gave her a 1791 gravestone he had found on the property.

John T. Debaun house    1820-1830

This house may be the earliest of the DeBaun houses in the area. There were so many that the area was once known as “DeBaun Town.” It could date to as early as 1810. This home is on the corner of West Saddle River Road and Ripplewood Drive. The home was built by John T. DeBaun. The central portion and smaller extension to the south were the original and the gable-ended northern portion was a later addition. It was owned by the DeBauns into the 20th century. John E. (b. 1888) and Isabel were the last DeBauns to live in the house through 1940. John was an inventor and patented a race track on a treadmill so the horses were always in front of the grandstand. John and Isabel sold the house to William Harrison Felton (b. 1894) and his wife, Nancy in the 1940s.

Though difficult to see from the road now, the Gothic Revival window in the gable has been filled in and small overhang on the side door removed, but the house has otherwise retained its overall massing and appearance.

NICHOLAS HENNION HOUSE c. 1830

At the north end of Upper Saddle River on West Saddle River Road, we have two important old houses. Claire Tholl called the Nicholas Hennion house, built about 1830 on the corner of Cherry Lane, “among the best examples of Greek Revival style domestic architecture.” The deep frieze under the eaves is exemplary of its Greek Revival characteristics. The house likely would have been painted white. The “Victorian” scrollwork on the porch is not original. This home stands on Conrad Bush’s Lot #183 of the Ramapo Tract and was likely built by a Bush descendant.

Nicholas Hennion/Hemion (b. 1817) was living in this home with his wife, Leah Degraw (b. 1821), from at least 1860 until his death in 1893. They raised at least seven children here.

James DeBaun HOUSE   1830-1835

The land this home was built on was owned by Jacob DeBaun and Martie Thibout, who had a stone house by the river by 1739 and a 210-acre tract of land. Their descendent, James DeBaun (1749-1846), built the home around 1830 and left the estate to his siblings. This area was once known as "Debaun Town" because so many members of the family lived here.

Samuel J. DeBaun (b. 1797) owned it from 1853-1874 and his son, Jacob Samuel DeBaun lived there until Jacob’s death in 1879. His son Samuel J. DeBaun inherited it and moved to this home from Brooklyn in 1879. They were carpenters. Two of their sons left in the 1870s for Australia, entered the mining industry (and later pearling industry) and never returned (they discovered a mine, made a considerable income and built a number of hotels). The DeBauns were involved in local politics and the first town council meeting was held in the parlor of the home in 1894. After Samuel and his wife Margaret’s death, their three children, Minnie, Wallace and Irving lived there together for many years. They hosted one of the one room school teachers. Wallace was the last one and sold the home and property in 2 lots in 1940 when he moved to CT. Oliver Parker, a local carpenter, bought the house from “Wal” as well as the land west of West Saddle River Road and George Pickard, from Brooklyn, bought the section east of the road. The long building in back of the house was Ollie Parker’s workshop. The beautiful original barn was taken down in 1987 (see lost structures).

David J. Carlough house   c. 1838

In the 1700s this tract of land was owned by Jacob DeBaun and by 1783 there was a house on it. Later the land was owned by William and Rachael Thurston who in 1838 sold 12.36 acres to David Carlough for $346. David built the house around 1838 and David’s son, John George Carlough, inherited it in 1906. One of his sons was James D. Carlough, Upper Saddle River's first mayor. More recently it was owned by George Kirschner and then William Nickau and family.

The house, located at 88 Lake Street, exemplifies Upper Saddle River’s early-nineteenth-century vernacular Greek Revival domestic architecture. The massing with a 3-bay main portion and 2-bay side portion was popular at the time. The corner Doric pilasters make it architecturally significant. It is currently situated on 9/10 acre of land.

Items from the house can be seen at the Hopper-Goetschius House Museum. 

Post mill (Duffy's Distillery)  c. 1838

The Post Mill located on Lake Oratan on Hillside Avenue (and crossing over into Rockland County, NY) was built in 1838 and began as a saw and turning mill. Brass locks were also produced here at one point. It is most well known for where they produced applejack or "Jersey lighting," earning the name "Duffy's Distillery." John Duffy ran the mill until 1905, rented it out for 2 or 3 years and then shut it down. The original miller’s cottage still stands nearby. The mill pond is still intact and a water wheel (not the original) still turns. In 1932, a real estate agent from Ridgewood, Edwin Dunwoody Allabough (b. South Dakota, 1885), and his wife Zillah Edith Towner bought the mill, along with 20 acres of surrounding property. They converted the mill into a summer home hiring Ridgewood architect, Charles S. Keyser, while Edwin’s brother, Warren Allabough, did the construction work. Allabough also subdivided the land and constructed 6 other homes within 5 years. The mill was included in House & Garden in 1933. Mr. Courtney Lynne Poole (b. Washington DC, 1882), owner of C. L. Poole & Co. (an egg company started in 1918) and his wife, Cecilia Cross Rockefeller (b. 1887), bought it in 1937, enlarged the home (after 1946) and made improvements allowing for year-round living. Mildred S. and Thomas Bouregy, a publishing executive from New York City purchased it from the Pooles in 1946 and lived there through the 1970s. More recently the Terry family owned it. 

EDWARD J. DeBaun HOUSE   c. 1850

Located on the NW corner of Ackerson Lane, is a pretty home known as the Edward J. DeBaun house, who lived there with his wife Rachel J. Storms and their children. It was built about 1850 in the vernacular Italianate style. It is representative of a mid-nineteenth-century farmer’s home and includes a bracketed cornice. The house has changed little over the years apart from the left portion of the porch being filled in. An early barn is extant behind the house on Ackerson Lane. The DeBaun family sold the house to George Scott (b. 1834) and his family from New York. Marie Scott sold it in 1912 or 1915, along with many acres of property. It was either land or the house and land that were sold to Walter Carl Elze (b. 1893), whose in-laws lived in house. Walter worked for his father-in-law, William Butscher, and they developed many homes in town. Sherry Butscher recounted that the family moved to the house around 1912. The Butschers installed one of the earliest telephones in this house - taking 4 of the 7 lines required to set up the service. The home was owned by Upper Saddle River’s mayor, Frank Grout and his family for many years.

A small cottage just south of the house (visible at the left in the photo above) was originally of wood-frame with clapboard and later covered in stucco and was believed to have been used as a broom factory. The brooms were used as practice “rifles” during the Civil War. It was later turned into a tenant house for farm laborers. A ledger found in the house details the sale of a variety of goods from the store as well.

This house was featured in Architecture of Bergen County by T. Robins Brown and Schuyler Warmflash, 2001.

Herman T. Hopper house   c. 1879-1880

​Built by a descendant of the earliest settler here: Albert Terhune bought 330 acres from Isaiah Valleau. Herman Terhune Hopper moved into the house, built as a wedding present in 1880. Most of the lumber in the home came from the Terhune-Hopper mill which stood to the east of the house. It is a fine example of Italianate architecture, though many of its original corbels and Tuscan columned porch have been modified or removed. Herman T. Hopper was the third mayor of Upper Saddle River, serving from 1906-1924, to date, the longest serving mayor of the Borough.

Hopper-Woll house  c. 1880

The Hopper-Woll house on East Saddle River Road was built after 1876 by Garret J. Hopper (b. 1822). He and later his son, ran a gristmill and saw mill where Grist Mill Lane is today. In the 1920s, the house was remodeled by portrait artist Celeonor E. Dugas Woll (b. 1887), into what historian Claire Tholl called English Cottage Revival. Her husband, Matthew Woll (b. Luxembourg, 1880), was vice president of the American Federation of Labor under Samuel Gompers. In 1946, Matthew and Celeonor built a second home deep in the woods where Gristmill Lane is now. It was a unique house with a tower on the side where Celeonor painted. It was said that Matthew had received death threats and they feared for his safety. That house was abandoned and eventually torn down in the 1990s, but the chateau still stands. 

A. W. DEMAREST house c. 1880

Garret Hopper, a son of Nicausie Hopper, had a stone house north of Gristmill Lane. It burned down in the early 1900s, but he left a legacy in two other homes that he built for his children. He built the Queen Anne Victorian (seen here) on East Saddle River Road as a wedding present for his daughter Mary Christina Hopper Demarest (and her husband, A. W. Demarest) (seen below), when they married in 1880. It was a very elegant home for its day (and still is today). It came equipped with a four-seater outhouse. The home was originally on 105 acres. /

The photograph above shows how it looked in 1919 when the DePuy family bought it. Mrs. DePuy would become a favorite school teacher in the 1920s and 1930s in the one-room school. Her son Bob DePuy wrote to us in 1991:

 “The house where we lived was built almost entirely of lumber from the Hopper farm nearby. The logs were cut in the local sawmill and the planks were taken to Paterson where they were planed and made into doors, trim, moldings, etc. Some of the doors had panels of solid black walnut, as was the newel post which was about 16 inch in diameter.

“The first story floor beams were hand-hewn beams which had been taken from an old Dutch house located close to the road. The house had been torn down and some of the material was used in the new house.

“Our house was quite a large house. The only improvements [we made] were a wood-burning stove in the kitchen which had to be constantly stoked. The fire went out shortly after we went to bed and had to be started again before breakfast. And there was a hand pump that was mounted on a zinc-lined wooden sink so we could pump water out of a cistern under the back porch that was full of water, rats, bats, spiders, etc.”

Historian Claire Tholl felt the home was one of the finest examples of Queen Anne architecture in Bergen County and was highly unusual for being in a rural setting, unlike nearly all other examples, which were concentrated to suburban locations. The house was featured in Architecture of Bergen County by T. Robins Brown and Schuyler Warmflash, 2001.

Reformed Church Parsonage   c. 1882

This house is significant because of its connection to the Old Stone Church. Church records state: "Elder Youmans (William H. Yeomans) contracted to build parsonage 12/3/1881...insured for $1500 (2/3 its value)." The house is vernacular Gothic Revival or Downinesque (after influential designer, Andrew Jackson Downing). It has changed very little since its construction.

Harry Himsel Ranch  c. 1948

Harry Himsel wanted to be cowboy. He was tall and handsome and when he first came to Upper Saddle River, many thought he actually was a real cowboy who had come East, or at least a movie star who played a cowboy.  In reality, he was a pig farmer. 

Harry did not like pig farming. After the war, in the late 40's he and his brothers sold the farm to developers and split the proceeds. Harry took his share and bought 52 acres in Upper Saddle River to start the Double H Ranch (HH) - his dream come true.

Periodically, the HH Ranch put on rodeos in its arena, complete with grandstand. Professionals competed in bull dodging, steer and calf roping, bronco riding and barrel races. Sheriff Bob Dixon, whose CBS TV program Chuck Wagon ran 1949 to 1951, often came to the rodeos dressed in full regalia. Silver, the famous horse of the Lone Ranger, was a beloved celebrity at the HH Ranch. He was boarded on the ranch from 1952 until his passing in 1961 at the age of 22. Himsel reportedly stated the horse was buried in the ranch.

For many more photos and information on the Ranch, see the link below.

LOST BUILDINGS

Sadly, many homes, barns and other structures have been demolished or lost to fire over the decades. In an effort to preserve their stories we have compiled a growing list of them. Click below to explore some of these buildings that only exist in photographs and stories.