Zabriskie Tenant House

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Coordinates: 40°56′53″N 74°5′50″W / 40.94806°N 74.09722°W / 40.94806; -74.09722
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Zabriskie Tenant House
The Zabriskie Tenant House in summer 2011
Zabriskie Tenant House is located in Bergen County, New Jersey
Zabriskie Tenant House
Location273 Dunkerhook Road, Paramus, New Jersey
Coordinates40°56′53″N 74°5′50″W / 40.94806°N 74.09722°W / 40.94806; -74.09722
Area1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
DemolishedJuly 13, 2012
MPSStone Houses of Bergen County TR
NRHP reference No.84002602[1]
NJRHP No.623[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 1984
Designated NJRHPOctober 3, 1980

The Zabriskie Tenant House was a historic house of the American colonial architecture style called Dutch Colonial on Dunkerhook Road in Paramus, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, adjacent to the Saddle River County Park. The Zabriskie family, who farmed much of the area to the east of the Saddle River (Passaic River), built the home to house their domestic workers. It was one of the few structures left in New Jersey directly related to free African American communities in the state, and was a remnant of an African American Dunkerhook community that (until the early 20th century) included several homes and an A.M.E. Church.[3] The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1984, as part of the Early Stone Houses of Bergen County Multiple Property Submission (MPS), for its significance in exploration/settlement and architecture.[4]

History and description[edit]

Developers Sal and Marcello Petruzella made a proposal to demolish the house and subdivide the land for the development of larger stylized houses with no reference to the historical community.[5][6] In spite of the house's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the New Jersey Register of Historic Places, and Paramus's own listing of historic resources, the Paramus Planning Board approved the demolition in late April, 2011, and the house was scheduled to be demolished in June, 2011.[7] Preservation New Jersey, the state's historic preservation advocacy group, put the house on its 2012 Most Endangered Historic Properties List. Local historians and preservationists, including Peggy Norris, Ted Manvell, and H. Michael Gelfand, worked out a plan to move the house to Bergen Community College for an educational adaptive reuse. This plan was supported by the County's Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Bergen County Executive, and the administration of Bergen Community College. The college's campus was also a part of the Zabriskie landholdings, and began to draw up plans for the placement of the house and its use in an educational function. The county was in the process of petitioning the state for funds to move and rehabilitate the structure [8] when on July 13, 2012, the developers Sal and Marcello Petruzella demolished the Zabriskie Tenant House.[9]

The demolition was a significant loss for the future understanding of the history of Dutch agricultural settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries, African Americans as slaves and freed peoples in New Jersey, and the rural nature of Bergen County that gave way to the massive suburban development after World War II. The house was of a similar plan as the Naugle House, across the Saddle River in the Borough of Fair Lawn, which utilized open space funds to purchase the Naugle House. The Borough of Paramus failed to make such an effort, but in 2013 seated a Historic Preservation Commission to prevent the loss of other historic resources in the borough. That commission, however, was never legally empowered or given voice in borough decisions and so has had no positive impact on historic preservation in a construction-friendly municipality.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System – (#84002602)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Bergen County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. June 22, 2023. p. 18. Razed 2012–2015
  3. ^ lutins, allen. "Dunkerhook: Slave Community?". Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. ^ Hoglund, David J. (July 3, 1979). "Early Stone Houses of Bergen County". National Park Service.
  5. ^ "Fighting for future of house with a past". The Record (Bergen County). Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  6. ^ "Case is made against historic house". The Record (Bergen County). February 5, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  7. ^ Akin, Stephanie. "Paramus board clears way for demolition of historic Zabriskie house", The Record (Bergen County), April 28, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2011. "A 250-year-old borough house listed on local, state and national historic registries will be demolished to make way for a pair of luxury residences, the borough Planning Board determined Thursday. The board voted unanimously to approve Paramus-based developer Quattro 4’s proposal to tear down the Zabriskie tenant house on Dunkerhook Road and subdivide the property."
  8. ^ Wassel, Bryan. "Zabriskie House in Paramus may get new home at Bergen Community College". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  9. ^ "Losing history: Freed-slaves house in Paramus deserved a better fate". 28 July 2012.
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