(This article is the third of an ongoing series examining the Schedler property and the issues surrounding it.)
In the woods on the edge of Route 17 in Ridgewood stands a brown farm house. Drivers traveling the speed limit on the highway would be hard-pressed to spot it, and it is best they don’t in the interest of automobile safety. But even those taking a trip on West Saddle River Road might miss it if they are not paying attention.
Yet that little brown house is considered a remarkable piece of history that at least some residents in the Village of Ridgewood believe is worth preserving for future generations.
The Zabriskie-Schedler house has become the subject of much speculation and discussion since the village purchased the 7-acre property in 2009. Current plans propose a 90-foot baseball field with multi-purpose overlay field, which has caused some residents in the neighborhood to worry about their quality of life while others are also concerned about the fate of the historic house.
Somewhat miraculously, the Schedler house has had few owners in its approximately 180 years and it may be one of the reasons the house has stood for so long in the middle of an otherwise developed region of New Jersey.
