Local Life

Retro Rumson Snowy Estate Magic

“I remember when my grandfather moved here way back when Rumson Road was considered one the ‘most beautiful’ in the country,” said RFH Class of ’78 grad Monica Sheehan of what many might call a picture perfect postcard of the snowy day shot of sleighing down the driveway on the estate of the historic mansion The Hermitage.

The original home was that of Rumsonite William A. Street.

The mansion, on a list of historic places in the borough, has sat at 79 Rumson Road, at Avenue of Two Rivers, for a very long time. And, in 1909, yes, 1909, someone grabbed this snowy snapshot of kids at play on the estate and turned it into a post card.

The home, was a grande mansion designed by famous architect Stanford White, or, some think, one of his students. It had all the makings of a murder mystery hub: secret panels with buzzers to alert the servants, a ballroom, solarium, pool table and tower room on a third floor, Arden Kremer, who lived in the Hermitage “while my family converted the carriage house into our home,” said on a social media post about the site. “What a wild summer!”

“The Hermitage is significant as the best remaining Monmouth County residential commission by the noted NY architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White,” according to research recorded, sources cited, by Randall Gabriellan and Gail Hunton for the Monmouth County Historic Sites Inventory list for the state of New Jersey and Monmouth County Park System. The home was originally built for Street, a founder of the also quite historic Sea Bright Lawn & Tennis Club in Rumson, and his wife Lucy Morgan Street. Street was an exporter and insurance company director in New York City.

The original Street home eventually, the main home on the estate, became the home of the Isherwood family, known to many in the area.

While those who grew up in the Rumson-Fair Haven area remember the “coolness” of the estate and its historic value, they also tend to remember it as a landmark on the trek back home from Sea Bright partying over the bridge.

“Yes that was our old driveway,” said Michael Isherwood on a Facebook group post about the site. “That brick structure was hit so many times by late night drivers leaving SB!!!!”

Don’t try this nostalgic trick at home, kids.

There were ponies and horses on the estate that was magical to many.

“Your house was magical to me when I was a little girl,” Sheehan said “… What a child I was with all the magic around …”

And the area had a magical pull for so many, especially under a glistening blanket of snow.

It’s also the spot where the No. 5 bus picked up people going to Red Bank. That gives a kid a little time to day dream.

Those were the days before ride shares and SUVs. In fact, those were the days well before parents would have forbidden a kid to ride on a bus into “town,” which was the reference for going to Red Bank.

Anyone remember the bus fare for a ride to Red Bank from Fair Haven or Rumson? Who walked? Which estate in Rumson or Fair Haven was your daydream magic place, especially in the snow?