Community Corner

Frazee House Now on State Register of Historic Places

The historic home in Scotch Plains is considered significant for its representation of ordinary life during the 1700s.

The Frazee House in Scotch Plains is now officially on the list of the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office. 

The historic home, which is being restored through the efforts of the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club, earned the designation on Sept. 28 for its “integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.”

“It’s a long path for a neglected historic gem to make its way to the prominence that it deserves,” said Andy Calamaras, who is leading the Aunt Betty Frazee Project to restore the house to its Revolutionary period character. The restoration effort dates to a commitment made in 2004 by Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary Club.

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Calamaras previously told Patch that what makes the Frazee House unique is the fact that it's one of the few remaining "ordinary" homes from that time. Located at the intersection of Terill and Raritan roads, the house was built in the 1700s by Gershom Frazee Sr., an 18th century carpenter and joiner. It’s also particularly known for its alleged involvement in the Battle of Short Hills, when British forces showed up demanding loaves of bread that “Aunt Betty” Frazee had just baked. When she expressed her displeasure with the British, the troops looted the home.

The house was the home to several families afterward, and was even used as a privately-owned zoo during the latter part of the 20th century. 

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“This designation is a step that brings well deserved credibility to our efforts to raise funds for restoration,” Calamaras said. Thus far, the restoration project has raised and spent funds to support the walls and roof with temporary interior bracing. “Each mark of honor, each token of recognition of the value of this old house paves the way to the day when the Frazee property will be restored as a point of pride in our town, our county, and the state. This is an exciting development and inspiring to our committed restoration team.”

With this historic designation in New Jersey, the Frazee site’s file will now be forwarded to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C., for consideration to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 


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