Built around 1745 and expanded significantly in 1796, the Ward/Force House is one of the few early farmhouses in Essex County that has retained much of its original character, craftsmanship, and details. The wood frame building features wooden clapboard siding and a stone foundation with some Federal elements common in rural, 18th century, northern New Jersey architecture. The main block of the Ward/Force House was built by Theophilus Ward in 1745 as part of the surrounding Ward Farm which consisted of 225 acres of meadows, apple and peach orchards, and a plant nursery. In the 1760s, Samuel Force purchased the land for his sons, Thomas and Jonathan. It was Thomas Force, notable for his role as a Corporal in the Second New Jersey Regiment during the American Revolution, who expanded the house by adding the 2 and ½ story addition during the late 1790s. The property changed several times over the following decades until in 1962 when the Township of Livingston purchased the property. Today the Theophilus Ward/Thomas Force House (Ward/Force House) and the Condit Family Cook House (Cook House) are located on the same property in Livingston, New Jersey and are known as the Old Force Homestead. The two buildings were listed together in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1981. 

The Trust grant will help fund critical structural repairs, roof replacement on both the Ward/Force House and the Condit Cook House, window and door repair, MEP and HVAC improvements, masonry repairs, and the addition of an ADA ramp, ADA parking, and an ADA restroom. The grant would also fund a 2021 Preservation Plan.