The story behind one of New Jersey’s oldest houses. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.
In 1696, an English settler named John Bradbury purchased land from Juriaen Thomasse Van Riper and erected a grist mill, which was located just below the dam of the pond of the Third River along the River Road from Newark to Acquackanonk. His first house was erected close to the mill where his family resided for 12 years. Thereafter, he had considerable mills on the Third River and altogether was a man of importance in the community. He then built a stone house on a knoll south of Kingsland’s Lane (now Kingsland Road). This house is what we know today as the Van Riper House. It is likely that he built a portion of the Van Riper House (perhaps the kitchen) before the year 1700, which could make the Van Riper house one of the oldest standing structures in New Jersey.
Bradbury lived in the stone house until he died between 1739 and 1741. In accordance with his will, he left the following to his heirs: To his wife Elizabeth he left the use of the dwelling (the Van Riper House), the best wagon, fire wood, the furniture and the use of two servants to wait upon her.
To his son Richard, he left his house, land and mills with the express condition that he should pay his mother Elizabeth the sum of twenty pounds current money yearly and every year during her natural life. Richard was also to pay his sisters, Susanna and Elizabeth the sum of one hundred thirty three pounds, six shillings and eight pence to them and their heirs for four years after John Bradbury’s death.
Since John Bradbury’s daughter, Mary Berry, had predeceased him, he left sixty six pounds, thirteen shillings and four pence to his granddaughter Mary to be paid by his son Richard for four years after his death and the same sum to his grandson William to be paid to him when he reached the age of 21.
John Bradbury’s will stipulated that in the event his son Richard failed to comply with the terms of his will, that the property would be divided in equal shares between Suzanne, Elizabeth and the children of Mary Berry.
Richard Bradbury failed to comply with the conditions of his father’s estate and the entire estate was descended to Susanne Ludlow, Elizabeth Bradbury and the children of Mary Berry.The mills went to the Berry children and Elizabeth received the house.
When Elizabeth married Abraham Van Riper in 1747, they continued to live in the house. Abraham Van Riper was a Patriot during the Revolutionary War.
Date stone on rear of house
The exact date of his death cannot be established but it is believed to be around 1835. Abraham and Elizabeth had three children. Their son John Abraham Van Riper was born on February 12, 1753. He married Leah Winne in 1776, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. They enlarged the house in 1788. A tablet made from original sandstone is inscribed “I.L.V.R.P. May 1, 1788”, the initials of John and Leah Van Riper. John and Leah joined the Old First Church at Passaic on September 6, 1793. The tablet is still there at the rear of the house today.
John and Leah had eight children among who was Abraham Van Riper born September 15, 1782. John Abraham Van Riper died on January 4, 1841.
Abraham W. Van Riper married Maria Speer in on September 15, 1804 at the Belleville Dutch Reformed Church. He represented his district in the Assembly during 1848 and 1849 and for many years served as a freeholder and Justice of the Peace. He died in March 1866 intestate with an estate of under $20,000. Theodore Sandford and Abraham Winne Van Riper were appointed by the court as administrators of his estate.
In 1883, the entire estate of Abraham Van Riper was subdivided into 24 lots and divided amongst Elizabeth Van Riper, John Van Riper, Margaret Sanford, Sara Van Winkle and Abraham Van Winkle. In order to satisfy a mortgage of $932.90 a sheriff sale of the estate gave 23 of the lots to Margaret Leah Sanford, and the one remaining lot containing the house to Cornelius Van Houten of Belleville for $350.00.
Van Houten held the property until November 1, 1888 when it was sold to Statia I. Wilson of Brooklyn for $2,250.00. It was subsequently sold to Alexander Schultz on December 1, 1898. Another sheriff sale held on March 2, 1933 to satisfy a mortgage of $2,889.00 awarded to property to Clara L. King, holder of the mortgage.
On October 14, 1933, King sold the property Joseph Abel of Montclair, New Jersey for $3,100.00 with the covenant that is was not to be used for business purposes until the mortgage was paid in full. Abel sold the property to Jean E. Witbeck of Montclair for $6,790.00 on November 22, 1935 who restored features of the house.
On February 5, 1945 Jean and Grace Witbeck sold the property to Federal Telephone and Radio, a division of IT&T. The house then became the home of Admiral Ellery Stone, an ITT employee. The house was used as a residence for ITT executives until about 1975 when it was converted into office space.
In 1996, the Van Riper House, Inc. was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in order to save the house from destruction as ITT (now L3Harris) prepared to sell the property due to reduced avionics activities following the end of the Cold War in 1991. It was first considered to move the house to a plot of town-owned land at the corner of Grant Avenue and River Road, but permits could not be obtained due the the presence of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s 10-foot trunk line beneath River Road.
On August 21, 1999 ITT sold the property to Town and Country Developers of Nutley, Inc. who are currently in the process of building a housing development called “Cambridge Heights at Nutley”, with the exception of Lot 2, Block 1000 known as 491 River Road where the Van Riper House still remains.
On January 2, 2000, a suspicious fire engulfed the second story of the house, destroying much of its northern portion. However, much of the interior was spared, left with not much more than smoke damage.
In July 2001, after the completion of the final portion of Cambridge Heights surrounding the property, The Van Riper House and approximately 0.9 acres of land was transferred from Town and Country Developers of Nutley, Inc. to the Township of Nutley.
In September, 2001 the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Nutley granted the Van Riper House, Inc., a 20-year lease passed by resolution. A renewal of this lease through 2039 was passed on December 17, 2019.
A new roof was constructed with cedar shingles and new framing constructed to supplement the existing beams damaged by the fire. However, as of 2020, this roof has been blown off in large sections likely due to improper nails being used to install it. Thankfully, the underlayment has prevented any water from entering the structure. Our new primary mission is to replace the roof, then develop a strategic plan for the future of the property.
