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Freeman’s Funeral Home & Town Council Destroy Historic Building

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Freeman’s Funeral Home in Freehold NJ, owns the property next door to them. On that property is the historic Christopher House. The Christopher House is a Greek Revival building that was built between 1830 and 1840 and the last of this type on Main Street. Although covered in plastic siding, the building was leased out [...]

Death of a Cottage

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The cottage. A Bungalow, a Cape Cod, just any modest cosy dwelling in a traditional design. After house shopping for a long time you finally find the house of your dreams. It's the cutest cottage you have ever seen. Just like something out of a story book. At one time there were many cottages like this. [...]

Can Hope REALLY Rise from the Ashes in Ocean Grove?

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Beautiful Historic Ocean Grove NJ, is a seaside resort town boasting street after street of beautiful, highly ornate Victorian buildings. This is the town that gives gingerbread ornamentation its name. Sadly on March 13, 2010 a devastating 4-alarm fire struck Ocean Grove NJ. The fire burned through nine structures, six were destroyed including the Manchester [...]

Freehold History Destroyed by Preservation Commission & Architect

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Preserve Freehold History - Outcry by Residents News reports: The messages from residents were: "Once it's gone it's gone" and "Do the job you were entrusted to do - protect the town's historic resources and preserving the building is the only environmentally responsible approach”. This was the plea to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) of [...]

Old House Restoration or Remuddling?

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The newspapers said this is an old house restoration. Obviously they have no idea what they were writing about. This house received a Restoration Award by the Freehold NJ Historic Preservation Commission. A board of supposedly "qualified" people issued this award.  Let's look a bit further and see what a mess was created. What is [...]