Post by Michael on Jun 11, 2006 16:03:48 GMT -5
Developer puts city's past before profits
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Home News Tribune Online 06/11/06
By RICK MALWITZ
STAFF WRITER
rmalwitz@thnt.com
PERTH AMBOY — When developer Barry Rosengarten purchased a corner lot in the historic section of the city, he thought like a developer and hired an architect to draw plans for 12 town houses.
Then he realized what would be lost if he tore down the house at 151 High St., and he could not bring himself to do it.
Rosengarten, who grew up in the city, knew it as "The Wilentz House," the residence of David T. Wilentz, patriarch of the most prominent legal family in New Jersey.
So Rosengarten threw away the plans for 12 town houses, and restored the house at 151 High St. to match its original 1908 appearance.
Instead of marketing 12 town houses, he will put one historic house for sale Wednesday, pricing it at $1,150,000.
"It took him the longest time to decide what to do with the property," said his wife, Nicole. "Businesswise he knew what to do — build the town houses. But his heart wouldn't let him do it."
David and Lena Wilentz owned the house from 1947 until 1989, a year after David's death. David Wilentz gained international attention in the 1930s when he was attorney general of New Jersey and successfully prosecuted Bruno Richard Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial.
The Wilentzes had three children — Warren, who today heads the law firm his father began; Robert, who served as chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996, and Norma, who married Leon Hess, the late founder of the Hess Corp. and owner of the New York Jets.
David T. Wilentz was a powerful Democratic Party leader, and among powerful figures he hosted in his High Street home were John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
Rosengarten, who was born in 1940 and raised only two blocks from the Wilentz home on Water Street, purchased the property in 2004 for $550,000. He spent an estimated $500,000 on its restoration.
The restoration made some allowances for modern times. Rosengarten installed central air conditioning and a security system, and wired the house for cable. He also outfitted the kitchen "as tomorrow as today can be."
Insulation was blown into the exterior walls, the oil burner was replaced by a gas furnace, and a 2,000-gallon underground oil tank was removed — the tank presumably once filled by Hess, who lived across High Street.
In other ways, Rosengarten paid meticulous attention to historic detail, consistent with its 1908 construction. Hundreds of pieces of brass, including screws, hinges and window locks, were removed, polished and returned to their place.
The ceilings and walls were stripped of plaster, and then replaced with Sheetrock. Whenever wood molding was destroyed in the process, Rosengarten had it duplicated by Monteath Moulding of Old Bridge.
Restoring the center staircase required the removal of paint from the soft chestnut wood.
The yard was sodded, the driveway covered with new brick and automatic doors were installed in the former carriage house, now a two-car garage.
There would be surprises. When ceilings and walls were stripped, old pipes were discovered that provided interior lighting fueled by natural gas. "The job was a progression of the unknown. When you started one project you found other things to do," Rosengarten said.
The lone picture in the house is a 1930s framed photo of David T. Wilentz himself, atop the mantel of the living-room fireplace.
"Every day I'd walk in and say hello to Uncle Dave, knowing he was proud of what I was doing," said Rosengarten.
The house was built on property at the corner of High Street and Harrison Place.
Rosengarten learned that the original owner was Charles D. Snedeker, the secretary and treasurer of the Perth Amboy Dry Dock Co.
According to "History of Middlesex County," published in 1921, Snedeker also was a bank vice president, community leader and world traveler, who visited Europe, Egypt and "the Holy Land."
Sometime in the 1920s, when Snedeker's wife was ill, he installed an Otis elevator, which still works today, though when Rosengarten took a visitor on a tour of the home, he brought his cell phone into the elevator, should it fail after eight decades.
The house has 3,000 square feet of living space on the first two floors, and a 970-square-foot restored attic.
What impressed the Rosengartens most was the integrity of its structure, nearly a century after its birth.
"It has good bones," said Nicole Rosengarten.
Rick Malwitz:
(732) 565-7291
Rmalwitz@thnt.com
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Home News Tribune Online 06/11/06
By RICK MALWITZ
STAFF WRITER
rmalwitz@thnt.com
PERTH AMBOY — When developer Barry Rosengarten purchased a corner lot in the historic section of the city, he thought like a developer and hired an architect to draw plans for 12 town houses.
Then he realized what would be lost if he tore down the house at 151 High St., and he could not bring himself to do it.
Rosengarten, who grew up in the city, knew it as "The Wilentz House," the residence of David T. Wilentz, patriarch of the most prominent legal family in New Jersey.
So Rosengarten threw away the plans for 12 town houses, and restored the house at 151 High St. to match its original 1908 appearance.
Instead of marketing 12 town houses, he will put one historic house for sale Wednesday, pricing it at $1,150,000.
"It took him the longest time to decide what to do with the property," said his wife, Nicole. "Businesswise he knew what to do — build the town houses. But his heart wouldn't let him do it."
David and Lena Wilentz owned the house from 1947 until 1989, a year after David's death. David Wilentz gained international attention in the 1930s when he was attorney general of New Jersey and successfully prosecuted Bruno Richard Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial.
The Wilentzes had three children — Warren, who today heads the law firm his father began; Robert, who served as chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996, and Norma, who married Leon Hess, the late founder of the Hess Corp. and owner of the New York Jets.
David T. Wilentz was a powerful Democratic Party leader, and among powerful figures he hosted in his High Street home were John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
Rosengarten, who was born in 1940 and raised only two blocks from the Wilentz home on Water Street, purchased the property in 2004 for $550,000. He spent an estimated $500,000 on its restoration.
The restoration made some allowances for modern times. Rosengarten installed central air conditioning and a security system, and wired the house for cable. He also outfitted the kitchen "as tomorrow as today can be."
Insulation was blown into the exterior walls, the oil burner was replaced by a gas furnace, and a 2,000-gallon underground oil tank was removed — the tank presumably once filled by Hess, who lived across High Street.
In other ways, Rosengarten paid meticulous attention to historic detail, consistent with its 1908 construction. Hundreds of pieces of brass, including screws, hinges and window locks, were removed, polished and returned to their place.
The ceilings and walls were stripped of plaster, and then replaced with Sheetrock. Whenever wood molding was destroyed in the process, Rosengarten had it duplicated by Monteath Moulding of Old Bridge.
Restoring the center staircase required the removal of paint from the soft chestnut wood.
The yard was sodded, the driveway covered with new brick and automatic doors were installed in the former carriage house, now a two-car garage.
There would be surprises. When ceilings and walls were stripped, old pipes were discovered that provided interior lighting fueled by natural gas. "The job was a progression of the unknown. When you started one project you found other things to do," Rosengarten said.
The lone picture in the house is a 1930s framed photo of David T. Wilentz himself, atop the mantel of the living-room fireplace.
"Every day I'd walk in and say hello to Uncle Dave, knowing he was proud of what I was doing," said Rosengarten.
The house was built on property at the corner of High Street and Harrison Place.
Rosengarten learned that the original owner was Charles D. Snedeker, the secretary and treasurer of the Perth Amboy Dry Dock Co.
According to "History of Middlesex County," published in 1921, Snedeker also was a bank vice president, community leader and world traveler, who visited Europe, Egypt and "the Holy Land."
Sometime in the 1920s, when Snedeker's wife was ill, he installed an Otis elevator, which still works today, though when Rosengarten took a visitor on a tour of the home, he brought his cell phone into the elevator, should it fail after eight decades.
The house has 3,000 square feet of living space on the first two floors, and a 970-square-foot restored attic.
What impressed the Rosengartens most was the integrity of its structure, nearly a century after its birth.
"It has good bones," said Nicole Rosengarten.
Rick Malwitz:
(732) 565-7291
Rmalwitz@thnt.com
www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060611/NEWS/606110483/1001