Iviswold, also known as "The Castle", is a house originally constructed in 1869 located in what is now
Rutherford, in
Bergen County,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, United States. It was placed on the
List of Registered Historic Places in New Jersey on November 4, 2004. The house is part of the Rutherford campus of
Felician College
Felician University is a private Catholic university with two campuses in New Jersey, one in Lodi and one in Rutherford. It was founded as the Immaculate Conception Normal School by the Felician Sisters in 1923 and the school has changed names ...
and underwent a renovation that was completed in 2013.
History
The home was built in 1869 by Floyd W. Tomkins who called it "Hill House". It was purchased in 1887 by David Brinkerhoff Ivison who greatly expanded it and gave the home the name "Iviswold". The expansion was designed by the architect
William Henry Miller. Ivison died in 1903 and Iviswold was sold and resold multiple times. During this period the building was used by the Rutherford Union Club.
In 1930 the building was owned by the Rutherford National Bank, then headed by
Fairleigh S. Dickinson. In 1942
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
was created and held the first classes within Iviswold. As the university grew it built multiple college buildings around Iviswold, but by the late 1980s the college was outgrowing their Rutherford campus, which was closed in 1994 and sold along with Iviswold to Felician University in 1997. Felician University spent several years restoring the building to its original condition.
The
New Jersey Historic Trust
The New Jersey Historic Trust was created by the State of New Jersey in 1967 to preserve New Jersey's historic resources. The Historic Trust's executive director is Dorothy P. Guzzo.
Funding programs available through the New Jersey Historic Tr ...
contributed $1,550,000 to the restoration project.
Construction
The original home was a two-story stone house with a
mansard roof. The 1887 remodeling of the house was inspired by the
Château de Chaumont
The Château de Chaumont (), officially Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, is a castle (''château'') in Chaumont-sur-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The castle was founded in the 10th century by Odo I, Count of Blois. After Pierre d'Ambois ...
in
Loir-et-Cher,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
The remodeling turned the building into a three-story turreted mansion with 25 rooms, including balconies, a music room and a
porte-cochère
A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...
. Local
brownstone was used in the construction of the exterior walls.
In the 1930s, an indoor pool was installed with a water tower built into the structure to supply it. In the 1970s, when Fairleigh Dickinson was using the building for classroom space, the college covered up much of the original interior with drop ceilings and partition walls.
See also
*
References
External links
Felician College
{{Registered Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey
Houses in Bergen County, New Jersey
William Henry Miller buildings
Houses completed in 1869
Rutherford, New Jersey
Felician College
1869 establishments in New Jersey
New Jersey Register of Historic Places