Passaic County takes ownership of historic home

Switch will enable access to more funding options

By: David M Zimmer
and Philip DeVencentis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Passaic County officials are set to take full control of the oldest home in Wayne.
..... Approved in May [2023] by Wayne officials, the transfer of the Schuyler-Colfax House on Hamburg Turnpike was expected to gain authorization from the county's Board of Commissioners during its Tuesday [07/18/2023] meeting. The deed transfer was recommended by officials from the Fiance and Administration committee and the Department of Cultural & Historic Affairs, records show.
..... Full control of the property will allow county officials to seek select grants and other funding opportunities unavailable on the local level. In recent years, county officials have also invested heavily in their recreational, historical and cultural heritage sites. Among them is Wayne's Dey Mansion Washington's Headquarters, which has received more than $2 million in upgrades since 2012.
..... Wayne Mayor Christopher Vergano said municipal officials recognized that the opportunities to fund the home's re habitation are greater under county ownership.
..... "This is really the only chance that the house will have to be restored," Vergano said. "that's why we're giving the property to the county."
..... Local records say the oldest portion was built crca 1700 by Arent Schuyler. It was eventually willed to his descendant Esther Schuyler, who gave the home its modern-day name through her marriage to prominent Revolutionary War figure William Colfax.
..... Colfax, who was born in Connecticut, likely first met Schuyler in the summer of 1780 at Dey Mansion as a member of George Washington's Life Guard. Washington and his aides took the mansion for the summer. Colfax and his follow guardsmen stayed in the attic. wounded in the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781, he achieved the rank of captain before the war's end.
..... After the war, Colfax took permanent residence in what was then called Pomptom. He and Schuyler expanded the one-story home in which she grew up with a two-story addition boasting eight rooms. The couple, who owned slaves, developed the property into a profitable farm, bought three wagons and packed their home with fine furnishings, according to Wayne Museum records. Their grandson, aptly named Schuyler Colfax, became the 17th vice president of the United States.
..... Eight generations of the Schuyler-Colfax family lived in the house before June 1993, when Wayne officials approved the purchase of the property. After suffering roof damage in 1999, the home underwent considerable renovations that included electrical upgrades, structural stabilization and a roof replacement.
..... The home has nonetheless remained off limits to the general public. Vergano said it needs a "tremendous amount of work."
..... Since 2020, the county has served as official caretaker fir the Schuyler-Colfax House and two other municipally owned structures in town: the Van Dyne and Van Riper-Hopper houses on Berden Avenue. The agreement, which expires at the end of 2023, costs Wayne $52,000 per year, records show.
..... Both the Schuyler-Colfax and Van Ripper-Hopper houses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. the Van Duyne House was removed from the register after its 1974 relocation to Berdan Avenue.

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