Henry Guest House

Henry Guest House
The Henry Guest House in fall 2011
Location 58 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Coordinates 40°29′29″N 74°26′45″W / 40.49139°N 74.44583°W / 40.49139; -74.44583Coordinates: 40°29′29″N 74°26′45″W / 40.49139°N 74.44583°W / 40.49139; -74.44583
Built 1760
Architect Henry Guest, Sr.
Architectural style Colonial
NRHP Reference # 76001163
Added to NRHP May 24, 1976[1]

The Henry Guest House is in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, at Livingston Avenue and Morris Street. It was originally located on New Street (previously known as Carroll Place) between Livingston Avenue and George Street.[2] The Georgian stone farmhouse was built in 1760 by Henry Guest. He was a New Brunswick alderman and an associate of John Adams and author Thomas Paine.[3]

Henry Guest, who operated a tannery, bought two and a half acres on the corner of Livingston Avenue and Carroll Place (New Street) in 1755. He built a sandstone house five years later and lived there with his family until his death in 1815. Henry Guest said, “If his descendants would only keep a roof on it, the house would stand till Gabriel blew his trumpet.” In an 1817 sales advertisement the building was described as "one of the best stone houses in the State of New Jersey."[4]

By the twentieeth century the house was threatened with demolition, and in 1924, it was moved up Livingston Avenue next to the New Brunswick Free Public Library. Over time, the roof and other parts of the building deteriorated. In 1992, the city and the New Jersey Historic Trust funded a major exterior renovation. A new roof, repainting of the mortar, and other repairs prevented further decay and today the Guest House is mostly used for meeting rooms.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Map of New Brunswick, 1892". Sanborn Maps of New Jersey. Sanborn Map Company. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.newbrunswick.com/content.php?content=history_block#6
  4. 1 2 "About the Library". New Brunswick Free Public Library. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
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