Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

New Jersey Historic Trust Affiliated with the Department of Community Affairs

Seward House

Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund
Capital Level II: Multiphase
Grant Award: $504,675 (2019); $261,205 (2023)
Grant Recipient: Township of Mount Olive
County: Morris
Municipality: Mt. Olive

The Seward House is a significant example of an Italianate-style, vernacular, rubblestone farmhouse built for a well-to-do gentleman farmer. The house was built in the 1860s and features a cross-gabled roof with prominent molded cornice and gable returns, spacious rooms with tall ceilings, a prominent central staircase, and walk-in closets, setting it apart from contemporaneous Morris County residences.   

The property contains a contributing barn, constructed circa 1870. The two-story stone barn is three bays wide, one bay deep, and two stories tall. It has internal timber framing for the second floor and the roof. The barn has a gable roof with a ridge running east-west. There originally was a cupola at the center of the roof ridge and a chimney at the west end of the roof; the cupola and chimney do not remain today, and it is unknown when they were lost. The interior of the barn has a concrete floor, exposed stone walls, exposed second-floor framing, and a modern stair that leads up to the second-floor level along the east wall. The second-floor level has exposed wood plank flooring and a queen post truss system for roof framing.   

The 2023 Trust grant will help fund roof restoration and structural upgrades.

The 2019 Trust grant helped fund structural upgrades and exterior rehabilitation.  


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