Stillwell–Preston House
It began as a farmhouse. When improvements were made in the 1960s, square nails, handmade by a blacksmith, were removed from the walls. At one point, the house to the North on East Saddle River Road was once the carriage house for the estate and the house North of that was where the caretakers lived.
Martin Block, host of the "Make Believe Ballroom--so, arguably, the first disk jockey--once lived there. It was actually even larger, with a wing having been knocked down in the 1950s. Once owned by a retired Navy captain, he painted most of the interior battleship gray, since he had the paint and "help" available.
In the 1960s, the home was owned by Fred Pfister (who named it "Riverwind"). Fred had previously owned the equally historic Fell House in nearby Allendale, New Jersey. Fred died in July 1969 and his wake was held in the majestic 60-foot-long living room because of his deep love of this beautiful home. His family lived there until 1972.
There are ten fireplaces, and those in the bedrooms were faced with carved marble imported from Italy.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Saddle River, New Jersey
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Bergen County, New Jersey
References
- ^ "National Register Information System – (#86001610)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Bergen County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. December 28, 2023. p. 24.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Stillwell–Preston House". National Park Service. With accompanying photo.
- ^ Brown, T. Robins (August 1985). "Saddle River". National Park Service.