Lawrence Township's Brearley House: 250 Years Young

Built in 1761, the celebrated its 250th birthday earlier this month with a special in-house panel of experts who spoke about the history of the Lawrence Township landmark.

Once home to farmer James Brearley and his family, the structure was restored in 2000 after years of planning and fundraising by the township.

Lawrence Township Historian Dennis Waters, architect Michael Mills and archaeologist Ian Burrow – all of whom had a hand in restoring the house to its 18th century glory – spoke on Oct. 16 in an intimate setting with a small yet enthusiastic crowd as part of October’s .

Waters initiated the panel discussion with a brief recap of Lawrence Township history. “You all know that Lawrenceville used to be called Maidenhead, right?” asked Waters. “And the population used to be a lot smaller than it is now.” As of 2010, the township population was 33,472. 

Waters soon turned the spotlight over to Mills, who “first became aware of the house in the early 1970s” and has “worked with Lawrence Township since the beginning” of its efforts to preserve and restore the landmark.

“I was a young architect then and wanted to see the house because it would have been the most northerly pattern brick house,” Mills said before diving into an in-depth account of the restoration process.

A partner at Plainsboro-based Mills + Schnoering Architects LLC who has devoted more than 25 years to the preservation, restoration and adaptive use of some of the region's most significant historic structures, Mills said he began to examine the Brearley House with a team in the mid-1980s.

That work, he explained, allowed him to determine the original and unoriginal parts of the upright house.

“There was so much original fabric in the interior,” according to Mills. After probing the house, he recommended to former Mayor Gretel Gatterdam that the township mothball the property, a process used to secure historic buildings from nature, as well as vandalism.

Work did not actually begin until 1998, when funding from the Lawrence Historical Society, Lawrence Township, and the New Jersey Historic Trust finally assured the restoration, which proved to be “an undertaking,” said Mills.

The restoration team – which included fellow panelist Ian Burrow, vice president and principal archaeologist at Hunter Research Inc. of Trenton – used the historic Evans House in Evesham Township as a guide, since no blueprints for the Brearley House were ever discovered.

“Typically [during the 18th century] they used pattern books,” said Mills. “It was not custom to blueprint but you might find a sketch. [Construction] was all by tradition and word of mouth. But they did have inventory of the house back in the day.”

“Thank goodness they put the date on it,” quipped Burrow, alluding to the glazed brick numbers “1761” on the east side of the house which informed the team of the year the house was built.

“Because of the vision of the historic trust, archaeology was involved,” continued Burrow, whose major discoveries at the site included finding the stone foundation of a kitchen addition that was built some years after the original house.

The standing Brearley House “was probably the third [house] on the property,” according to Burrow, and the team wished to restore the building in an authentic matter, save for the more modern kitchen wing, which today includes a handicap ramp leading into the house, appliances and a handicap-accessible bathroom.

“We chose not to make the kitchen look like an 18th century kitchen,” said Mills. “What went up there is very neutral. The detailing is simple. It has a 20th century profile, which is compatible [to the 18th century design] but not [considered] reconstruction.”

Today the Georgian structure stands tall and welcomes visitors for tours on the first Saturday and third Sunday of every month, as well as for other events.

“It’s a great place to have parties,” said Burrow.

“We try to tread lightly,” added Mills. “But the utilities are modern. We refinished existing flooring in this room [the panel room at the front of the house] but some boards were taken from the attic.”

“Overall this has been an archaeological treasure trove,” said Burrow, summing up the panel. “You should be very proud of it.”