Frazee House Interior Restoration - Phase I

We've nearly completed the external restoration of the Frazee House and are scheduled to begin the internal renovation.   We were approved to receive a $337,000 grant from the NJ Historic Trust and need to raise another $120,000.

The funds will be used to:
-restore the two lower-level rooms at the western end of the house as well as one of the fireplaces,
- build a small public restroom building on to the west of the house and connected by a ramp.
- add heating and air-conditioned to the interior, and make it ADA-compliant.

The Frazee House is reported to have been constructed circa 1720-1740 by Gershom Frazee, husband of Elizabeth (Betty) Frazee. According to local legend Betty turned away British General Conwallis, who sought to plunder fresh baked bread from her oven. Gershom was a prolific and well-documented 18th-century carpenter and joiner. 

The Frazee House is a central New Jersey architectural gem because of its age and its ordinariness. It is a farmhouse that dates to 1720-1740. “Ordinariness” is also its claim to fame because it is an example of the kind of building that never survives the centuries. It is vernacular architecture — that is, built with skill, with local materials and in a local style — to be a typical residence without pretension in its day.  Today the Frazee House is approaching its fourth century.  

Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us!

More information about The Frazee House Inc: The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Frazee House, Inc. is committed to the stewardship of the Frazee House and Site.   We aspire to preserve and promote the story of the Frazee House to help enrich and enlighten a diverse public of the architectural, educational, agricultural, and recreational values of this colonial site.