Sarah Jesson House - Cattell Tract Historic District - Merchantville, NJ
N 39° 57.241 W 075° 02.858
18S E 495931 N 4422654
This Second Empire-style frame house is rich in detail and lacks no shortage of curiosities. This more than represents of the best of what the historic district has to offer.
Waymark Code: WMHM17
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/21/2013
Views: 3
I took a 2 hour walk of this incredible and little known town/jewel. There are countless examples of wonderful Victorian architecture which is the mainstay for this historic district. I went to the borough hall and picked up a brochure entitled A Walking Tour of the Cattell Tract, A National Registered Historic District. Inside the pamphlet, there are 15 examples of contributing structures with a wide range of diversity so as to allow the visitor to have a complete flavor of the district. There are a total of 174 buildings in the district. While I was unable to procure a list on this day, the borough folks told me contributing houses (everyone from the 1890s) have markers indicating the date of construction and the original homeowner's name. There are many contributing structures without the markers, but, I only documented the ones with the markers so as to waymark them and provide suitable evidence for the contributing structures category. Recently however, the nomination form has been digitized and now all of the properties and narratives are available.
The complete nomination form with all the contributing structures and their narratives can be found HERE
This looks more like a gingerbread house than anything else. I am particularly fond of the intricate brackets on the front porch, the flowers patterned into the mansard roof and the natural stone driveway. Make sure to pay close attention to the roof on each dormer. They are incredibly detailed and quite unique. I've never seen anything like it.
The narrative for this property reads as follows:
30 - Sarah Jesson House
Built 1883. 2 1/2-story, 3-bay, Second Empire-style frame house, clapboarded. Front porch, chamfered posts, gingerbread brackets. Double glazed and paneled doors, 2-light transom. Windows 2/2 double hung. Thin entablature lintels throughout. Bracketed cornice, slate mansard, gabled dormers with brackets and finials. Side 1-story polygonal bays. - Contributing (Section 7, Page 12) SOURCE