An 18th-century Ho-Ho-Kus house once owned by famous actor Joe Jefferson, Hermitage architect William H. Ranlett and five generations of the Terhune family is now on the market.
The Terhune-Ranlett-Jefferson House, located at 933 East Saddle River Road, was put up for sale more than a month ago, said listing agent Nancy Falk of Marron Gildea Realty’s Ho-Ho-Kus office. The five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom Dutch house, located on a 2.3-acre property, is currently available for $1,695,000.
The property’s history traces back three centuries, as it is believed the Terhune family, possibly Abraham Terhune, built the house between 1705 and 1775, according to the Ho-Ho-Kus master plan. The house was then owned by Ranlett, who purchased the property just before the Civil War. Ranlett was the architect who remodeled and upgraded The Hermitage, and he also published the monthly magazine “The Architect,” a nationally ranked publication. In 1869, the property was purchased by Jefferson, who is most famously known for playing Rip Van Winkle.
The house is listed as a critical environmental and historic site in the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan. Sites that receive this designation generally are less than a square mile and include one or more environmentally and historically sensitive features, according to the New Jersey Department of State, Office for Planning Advocacy website.
The house has undergone significant change over the years, with the first architectural evidence of modification as early as 1790. Jefferson made several changes to the property, including removing a partition in the living room to create a 30-foot room that “served as a small stage to conduct various theatrical productions for friends and neighbors,” according to the master plan. Jefferson, an ardent fisherman and nature lover, also planted a set of pine trees and created a fishing pond. Despite the changes, the house “retains the charm of the past,” the master plan states.
Among the original features still remaining on the property are a Dutch barn and an ice house, which are architecturally significant because of their association with the area’s settlement and exploration. The barn was severely damaged by a 21-inch snowfall in January 1996. As part of the resulting work, which left the barn smaller than the original structure, the main section was rebuilt with a new Dutch style roof line, although the west side was not rebuilt. Among the features still remaining from the original house are whitewash walls built of clay and straw and outer walls consisting of local sandstone. Also of note, the house faces southwest, or perpendicular to East Saddle River Road, which was customary of 18th-century settlers, according to the master plan.
The property has been reduced in size over the years, as it originally was 38 acres, with the most recent change a one-acre subdivision in 2002.
jacksonm@northjersey.com