Preservation usually only requires a homeowner to keep the outward appearance of a landmark intact. Often the history of a place and all its unusual artifacts are lost when historic homes are modernized.
But the Colgate stable wasn’t just another historic home – it was a rich part of Harding Township's fabric. Incorporating traces of the stable’s former life is what made this home such an interesting adaptive reuse assignment for architect Nancy Dougherty to work on.
“When a project like this comes along, where someone is willing to invest in preserving the structure, it really is a gift to the town,” said Dougherty, principal at Studio 1200.
When Dougherty appeared before the Historic Preservation Commission in 2021, the chair called it one of the most important landmarks in the township. The stable is named after Henry Auchincloss Colgate, once a member of Manhattan’s high-society and heir to namesake soap and toothpaste company founded in the Victorian era. The land where the stable was built goes back even further as once belonging to the Henderson farm.
The original function of the home on Blue Mill Road was a stable on Colgate’s larger estate, which no longer exists. The structure accommodated a carriage house, 10 horse stalls and living quarters for the stablemaster.
Colgate died in 1957, according to a New York Times obituary, but the stables were sold five years prior. The family that had bought the property from the Colgates in 1952 owners are credited with first converting the stables into a residence. Fortunately, they and the succession of owners that followed thought to keep features of the stable.
“It had been made into a house along the way but most of the details of the original structure had been maintained,” Dougherty said.
Today, the former horse stalls have been converted into a glass-enclosed arcade that surrounds an open courtyard. The doors on the hayloft and barn doors were restored. The wooden bricks that used to form a pathway for the horses were laid down again. Even a metal mechanism that was used to transport muck buckets was brought back to life.
Although viewing the home from the outside of the building it seems like a typical wood-frame Federal Revival-style building, the appearance belies an incredible sturdy structure made of steel and concrete. This is one of the reasons it has maintained its structural integrity over the years. Thomas dePoortere, chair of the local HPC, said during the hearing that the choice of materials was a mark of affluence.
“It was a sign of wealth, when you could get steel and cement,” dePoortere said. “That was bragging rights.”
Nowadays, many of these old farms and Victorian-era estates are being subdivided for $1 million homes. But the overlay of historic districts has protected the rustic feel of this town.
The Colgate stable is part of the Silver Lake Historic District, which was listed on the National Register in 1999. However, the effort to preserve this rural region and its historic architecture predate the preservation movement in the 1960s. Instead, much of this community was protected using deed restrictions and zoning laws, according to register listing. This is testament to township leaders, using the only mechanisms at their disposal before the legal landmarking process was even put in place.
What is fascinating about this historic district and the township’s approach to preservation is that it preserves vacant lots, including woods, lakes, and open meadows, seeing them just as important to the “setting of the district” as the buildings there, the register listing reads. The renovations at the Colgate stables is a case where the right kind of owner stumbled on the right kind of home in just the right town.