Hoagland-Clark House Recalls South Brunswick's Roots

In the middle of this development, a small home on Stevens Road sits untouched, surrounded by large two-floor homes and Kendall Park ranches. It sits quietly hiding, just a stone’s throw from Sandhill Road.

I’m a 20-year resident of South Brunswick, having driven down Sandhill Road thousands of times and never saw this home. The Hoagland-Clark House was placed on the 10 Most Endangered list of Preservation New Jersey, the same list the Van Dyke farm had sat on in 2006.

The house was conveyed by Abraham Hoagland Sr. to his son Elbert in 1793. The Hoagland family holds a long history in South Brunswick, which for me immediately qualifies for preservation.

The home has stone foundations, end wall chimneys and a centrally located door with a lean to kitchen and shed dormers. The house served as a home for the manager of the farmland as the Kendall Park homes were being built, making this house one of the true Kendall Park homes.

The home was well loved until 1999, when it started to go into disrepair. Regie Roth and neighbor Carol Lavitt began to bounce the idea of preservation around, just as the EVA did, and with the support of South Brunswick Township have had success in there preservation efforts.

As Kendall Park homes are being rebuilt and have become less recognizable, the Hoagland-Clark home remains as a reminder of what the South Brunswick community once was, a farming community with roots back into the American Revolution.