Our History

The Van Riper House is a historic Dutch American farmhouse built from locally-quarried brownstone. Its history spans over 230 years.

Around 1771, John A. Van Riper inherited land south of the Third River from his interest in the estate of his uncle, Richard Bradbury. In 1776, in the midst of the American Revolution, he marries Leah Winne.

In 1778/1779, Robert Erskine, surveyor general of the Continental Army, and his staff, created a detailed survey of River Road in Nutley. The Van Riper House is not shown, likely indicating construction had not started.

Between 1782 and 1788, John A. and Leah Winne Van Riper constructed a farmhouse, capping the project with a carved date stone above the back door. Over the next 40+ years, residents include the Van Ripers’ ten children and at least two enslaved individuals plus a free Black boy/adolescent, likely the child of the enslaved individuals.

At some point in the late 18th century or the early 19th century, a stone kitchen wing was added to the south side of the four-room house. Later in the 19th century, front and side porches and a rear pantry are added to the house.

In 1839/1840, John A. and Leah Winne Van Riper pass away. An inventory of John's estate describes a house with four rooms on the first floor, an upstairs garret, and a kitchen. In 1841, The Van Riper House and its associated farmland passed down to John A. and Leah Van Riper's eldest son, Abraham Van Riper, and his wife, Maria.

Maria passes away in the 1850s, and Abraham lives in the house until his death in 1866. During this time, occupants of the house include the couple's five children, servants and farm hands, including free African Americans plus Irish and German immigrants. John Lott, a young Dutch Reformed minister, and his wife Emma both lived in the house around 1860, apparently as boarders.

Upon the death of Abraham Van Riper in 1866, the house and its associated farmland were divided among his heirs with the house occupying a small, less than 2‐acre lot. Eliza Van Riper and Margaret Leah Van Riper Sanford, two of his daughters, appear to have a controlling interest in the house lot but it is unclear how long either may have lived there after their father's death. Margaret filed a complaint against her family members in 1883, forcing a sheriff's sale.

The Van Riper House then became a tenant house occupied by Alexander and Anna (Cornelia) Schultz, who later bought the house in 1898. Alexander died in 1916 and Anna continued to live in the house until 1932, when a fire damaged the kitchen wing and adjoining portions of the house. Few improvements appear to have been made to the house during the Schultz occupation.

From 1933 to 1935, oseph A. Abel, a real estate developer, remodels and updates the house in the Colonial Revival style. Alterations included the addition of dormers, replacement casement windows, an updated kitchen and bathroom, oil furnace, water service pumped into the house from a well, the addition of an attached garage, regrading and landscaping of the front lawn, the addition of low stone walls, and a U‐plan driveway.

Jean E. and Grace Witbeck purchase the house and occupy it for the next 10 years, decorating its rooms in a Colonial Revival taste. They add a conservatory to the south side of the kitchen wing, replacing a side porch.

In 1945, Federal Telephone and Radio Corp., a subsidiary of ITT, acquires the property for a corporate residence and develops surrounding properties as a research and manufacturing campus. Admiral Ellery W. Stone is its first resident.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the conservatory waws removed and replaced by an enclosed room containing storage/laundry and a bathroom. The building stops being used as a corporate residence and becomes a security office and personnel records storage facility for the ITT campus

In the early 1990s, ITT begins closing down its Nutley campus and the future of the Van Riper House becomes uncertain. Town and Country Developers acquires the house as part of the new Cambridge Heights development. The house is saved by local preservationists working with the Township of Nutley, which takes ownership in 2001 following a January 2000 fire that caused significant damage to the northern end of the house. Van Riper House, Inc. leases the house for 20 years and begins to undertake preservation projects including roof repairs and landscaping.

Starting in 2019, Van Riper House, Inc. is revitalized with new leadership. We have repaired the roof, successfully listed the house as a municipal landmark. We have activated the space for the first time with public fundraisers. Check out the “What We’re Doing” page for more info.

Adapted from our Preservation Plan, prepared by Hunter Research, Inc.