Martin Berry House

581 Route 23 South

Pompton Lakes, NJ 07444

https://www.facebook.com/MartinBerryHouse

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46748-d27729087-r949875094-Martin_Berry_House-Pompton_Plains_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Martin Berry House from the top of the hill at 581 Route 23 South. It is on a road hidden from the highway.

When I went to visit the Martin Berry House for the “Pathways to History” tour, I found it impossible to find. The Google Map has it in the middle of a parking lot in front of the strip mall along the highway and there is no pathway to the home from the parking lot. What you have to do is go the street behind the mall, head up the hill and make a right down a gravel road and there is the house at the end of the street.

There is not much parking here but with an isolated home like this, the Historical Society needs to put some things in place before they start having events here. The Society had bought the house not too long ago and there is still some renovation work that is being done, so the Society is in its first stages of opening the house to the public. It has some nice revolving displays and an interesting Colonial kitchen. The gardens are also beautiful when in bloom. Visiting the house in the future will offer many surprises.

(From the website of the Martin Berry House and the Pequannock Township Historical Society):

The Martin Berry House, or MBH, was built
on this spot in about 1720. The original house was
smaller than what you see here. This is the the
result of the second major enlargement or
renovation of the original construction as well as
later renovations and remodeling.

The Martin Berry House from the gardens.

The MBH is owned by the Township of
Pequannock and operated in partnership with the
Pequannock Township Historical Society (PTHS).
PTHS was formed in 2015 out of a movement that
was original called the Friends of the Martin Berry
House that had itself been initiated in 2014 to
support the Township in its efforts to acquire the
MBH.

The Martin Berry House Furniture display in May 2024.

When the Friends organized as the PTHS, it
was decided that a broader vision was needed so
that both the house and its context could be
preserved and interpreted.

The Martin Berry House Art Exhibition during the “Pathways to History” tour 2024.

The Martin Berry House Living Room.

The PTHS is an all volunteer and membership
-based organization with a mission to preserve,
interpret, and promote the history and diverse
heritage of Pequannock Township. We are working
to preserve and maintain historic buildings, sites,
and collections, and to create and present programs,
exhibitions, publications, and other activities for the
public that celebrate and interpret the history and
heritage of Pequannock Township and neighboring
communities. Our primary activities at this point,
though, are centered around the preservation,
restoration and management of the MBH as an
historic learning center and living museum (MBH website).

The Martin Berry House gardens in bloom in the Spring of 2024.

The preservation of the MBH began with
Eleanor and Charles Bogert purchased the house the
2.75 acres of land that surrounds it today in 1951.
Lovers of history and historic buildings, it was their
intent to restore the house as a Dutch Colonial
manor. Along with the slow and laborious efforts of
restoring the house, they raised three children,
briefly operated an antique shop, gave tours for local
school and scout groups and became active in
organizations such as the Highlands Historical
Society.

The Colonial kitchen section of the home.

Their intent was to restore the MBH and to
provide it to Pequannock Township as a museum.
In the winter of 2014 Mrs. Bogert informed
the Pequannock Town Council and Township
Historian that she was ready to begin the process for
selling the MBH to Pequannock Township. Township
Historian Ed Engelbart and the Pequannock
Township Historic District Commission began
generating support and The Friends of the Martin
Berry House emerged in June (MBH website).

Martin Berry House Colonial kitchen and displays.

The Township submitted an application to
and then received a matching grant from the Morris
County Historic Preservation Trust Fund to purchase
the home in 2015 and then contracted with HMR
Architects for a Preservation Plan.

The Colonial Kitchen display in the old Dutch Kitchen.

The Plan was received in the winter of 2016.
It recommended that the Township complete the
purchase of the MBH and provided information
regarding its renovation and interpretation. Final
negotiations began with Mrs. Bogert and the sale
was completed in January 2017. Negotiations then
began with the PTHS on a management agreement
that was adopted and signed in September 2017 in
time for the PTHS to open the MBH to visitors for
the Pathways of History Tour.

The history of the Martin Berry House and renovation.

The History of the house:

(from The Martin Berry House historical pamphlet)

In 1695 and 1696, a group led by Captain Arent Schuyler, Major Anthony Brockholst and six others including Samuel Berry, negotiated purchase of the land from both the Lenape Tribal Americans and the East Jersey Board of Proprietors. The land was later divided to eight separate owner including Samuel’s son Martin Berry born in 1693, who acquired the property and likely built his fine home sometime after his marriage to Maria Roome in 1720.

Historian Emil R. Salvini noted that Martin built his house of stone, with walls two feet thick for insulation, set into the hillside facing south, typical of the Dutch homes of the period. Its has six bedrooms, two center halls, shallow fireplaces to reflect the heat back into the rooms, servants quarters and a massively framed Gambrel room built without the benefit of a ridgepole.

Besides being a successful and prosperous farmer, Martin served in positions of community leadership, both as a deacon and later elder in the newly established Dutch Reformed Church which was built in 1736 and was accessible via “Martin’s ford” across the river from his farm. The house passed out of the Barry family in 1862 during the Civil War.