Restored cold frames at Botto House. Photo courtesy of the American Labor Museum.
The Pietro and Maria Botto House in Haledon was built in 1908 by Italian immigrants who worked in the area’s silk industry. During the 1913 Paterson Silk Strike, the house served a critical role as a meeting place for 25,000 silk mill workers. Reflecting this history, the house is now the home of the American Labor Museum, which explores the history and contemporary issues of work, workers, and the labor movement in America and throughout the world.
In addition to the Botto House itself, the property has a root cellar, garage, chicken coop, and gardens — which originally included 14 cold frames, transparent outdoor frames that protected plants from cold weather. Over time, the cold frames deteriorated and were removed. In FY24, the American Labor Museum was awarded a $39,975 grant to restore the cold frames through the Cultural Trust’s Capital Historic Preservation Grant Program. The Capital Historic Preservation Program, operated in partnership with the New Jersey Historic Trust, supports capital facilities projects at historic sites listed on the New Jersey and/or National Register of Historic Places.
The project involved working with a carpenter to replicate the 1908 cold frames, then installing them in the same location as the originals. Some changes had to be made – like using Spanish oak instead of the now-endangered redwood that the original cold frames were constructed from – but the resulting frames are near-perfect matches in look and function.
The historic site of the cold frames prior to reconstruction. Photo courtesy of the American Labor Museum.
In addition to contributing to the site’s preservation and the garden’s beauty, the cold frame restoration also serves as an important educational and community resource. Together with the restoration of the garden’s grape arbor in 2022, the cold frames project brings the historic garden much closer to its original design. For students and visitors, it is now a more effective window into the lifestyle of an early twentieth-century immigrant family, for whom the garden provided both food and medicine. It also lends itself to new curriculum opportunities, American Labor Museum Executive Director Angelica Santomauro explained, serving as a starting point for conversations that weave together sustainability and the culture of the Botto family. And finally, the cold frames work as the originals did in the early 1900s, producing abundant vegetables and herbs for students and their families to enjoy.
Page Last Updated: 10/22/25
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