Former Tredwell resident wants answers about fire
Ekdahl: Boro role limited because house was private property
BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

RUMSON - Two months after the fire that destroyed the historic Tredwell House, a former resident of the 300-year-old house is asking for answers.

Jennifer Hoagland Sargent, now of Harwich, Mass., lived in the home she called "Holly Farm" from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Sargent said last week she is despondent over the loss of her childhood home as the result of a fire on June 15.

"It was a gorgeous, gorgeous home," she said in a phone interview last week.

In an open letter to Mayor John E. Ekdahl published in the Aug. 17 issue of The Hub, Sargent said the town should have worked harder to protect the historic property.

"The Planning and Zoning boards of Rumson should be ashamed and embarrassed," the letter states. "Their approach to historic preservation is a disgrace. They had an opportunity to preserve a very precious piece of history, one the whole town could be proud of, embrace and cherish. Instead, they let it go up in smoke."

In an interview last week, Ekdahl took exception to Sargent's claims.

"The point that she, and other preservationists have made," Ekdahl said, "is that this was never public property, where the town can dictate what you do.

"The Planning Board set down the rules and regulations that the Parents had to follow. Ms. Sargent blames the town. Is there any logic to that? What did she want the town to do? It's private property."

Ekdahl said that it would have been cost-prohibitive for the borough to have purchased the property, and that option had been considered by the borough in the past.

"If we had spent $3 or $4 million to buy the property," Ekdahl said, "what would we do with it? This town has a critical shortage of playing fields. We need active recreation space, rather than passive recreation space."

The Morris-Salter-Hartshorne-Tredwell House, known commonly as the Tredwell House, sustained severe fire, smoke and water damage in the fire, which resulted in the demolition of the uninhabited home.

Although Sargent hadn't visited the home in over 10 years, she said she kept up with the recent news concerning the development plans of the current owners of the property, Arthur and Leslie Parent, Red Bank.

The Parents acquired the Tredwell House in 1999 and received approval from the Rumson Planning Board to subdivide the property on Dec. 18, 2000. The approval came with the condition that the Tredwell House not be demolished, but the application lapsed without action.

The Parents filed a second application in February 2004 and the board passed a resolution at its February 2005 meeting that would have permitted the Parents to demolish the newer additions to the 300-year-old home, but required them to keep the "historically significant" parts of the building intact.

The board considered all parts of the building constructed before the 20th century to be historically significant, leaving only the two oldest sections intact.

In June, following the fire, the Borough Council held a special public meeting at which a resolution was passed stating that the site is a historic property and should be protected against trespassers and damage to archeological deposits.

Sargent said that she has been pushing Ekdahl for an answer as to the cause of the fire that destroyed her childhood home, but Ekdahl said if the investigation into the fire by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office is complete, he has not been notified of any results.

"The last time I spoke with someone from the Prosecutor's Office was three or four weeks ago," he said. "They really haven't involved us."

Ekdahl also said that he doesn't believe Sargent has any "real local knowledge" about the recent history of the Tredwell House.

"It's just hearsay," he said. "She isn't well informed."

Sargent said that she has kept herself well informed by reading local papers on the Internet about the possible development of the property where she lived for 15 years during her childhood.

"The loss of history here is awful," she said. "My family sold the home in '72 or '73, and a couple of families have been in and out since then."

Sargent said that she believes the Tredwell House was an idyllic place to grow up.

"My brothers used to dig up arrowheads all the time," she said. "We didn't think much of it at the time, it would just go to show-and-tells at school."

Sargent said that before her family moved into the home, it was owned by her aunt and uncle.

"My aunt, Claire Nelson, used to tell us there was a ghost in the house," she said. "As children, we ate that up, but I never personally ran into him."

Sargent said that the story of the ghost in the house dates back to Samuel Morris, a former owner of the home, who was killed by his slaves.

The oldest portion of the house, which sat on more than 6 acres on Ridge Road, had been dated as being built between 1710 and 1711, according to the Monmouth County Historic Sites Inventory.

The main part of the former structure is believed to have been built decades later, in the mid-18th century, according to the inventory, with additions built in 1935 and 1955.

The site is listed as significant for many reasons, including that it is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the borough and is an example of Georgian-style architecture "with Colonial Revival alterations," according to the Rumson Historic Element.

It is listed along with four other sites that are among the oldest buildings in Rumson, with the note that "some have undergone significant renovations."

Sargent said that she is disappointed with the final days of the building.

"It was a beautiful house," she said, "that survived 300 years, and then this couple buys it and owns it for seven years, and it goes up in smoke."

Arthur Parent said at the special meeting of the Borough Council after the fire, that he and his wife had seen evidence of people breaking into the house and leaving litter such as beer cans and other trash.

He said that was most likely the cause of the fire and that he had done everything he could to protect the house.