Rumson's Lauriston Estate Tops 10 Endangered Historic Sites List

RUMSON, NJ - The group Preservation New Jersey has released its annual list of the top 10 endangered historic sites in the Garden State. This year, the list includes buildings in Hoboken, New Brunswick, Fort Lee, Greenwich, Willingboro, South Orange and Cranford. Structures in three Monmouth County towns also made the list: Roosevelt, Rumson and Manalapan.

The group believes the listed sites will be demolished or could fall apart without careful planning.

Among them is the Lauriston Estate, an 1870 Colonial Revival mansion designed by New York and Red Bank architect Leon Cubberly. According to Preservation NJ, it's the only residential building in Rumson listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places.

In classic Colonial Revival style, the Lauriston Estate includes a marble foyer and spacious entrance hall leading to a unique dual bowed staircase. Lauriston is currently at the center of an affordable housing settlement agreement that would allow replacement of the mansion with 16 luxury townhouses. The group believes the mansion could be adaptively reused as a part of the proposed development, and also criticizes the state's handling of its mandate to build affordable housing, calling it "haphazard" at times.

The list is generated by nominations from the public. Selections for the list are then based on the following criteria:

• Historic significance and architectural integrity
• The critical nature of the threat identified
• The likelihood that inclusion on the list will have a positive impact on efforts to protect the resource

The list, now in its 25th year, aims to attract attention to the threatened buildings. Several challenges the historic properties face include neglect, deferred maintenance, low preservation funding and threats posed by redevelopment and new construction.

You can watch the full announcement below:

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Other Monmouth County sites deemed to be at-risk include the former Roosevelt Public School in Roosevelt and the Derick Sutfin House at Monmouth Battlefield State Park.

You can view the full list with descriptions here.

With reporting by Caren Lissner.