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The Historic Van Dien-Ruffgarten House in Paramus Maybe Saved Yet

Van Dien Ruffgarten 1 460x460 1

photo courtesy of Preservation NJ

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ, the historic Van Dien-Ruffgarten House, which has ties to a tiny community of free African American homesteaders, has once again received a reprieve from demolition.


The developer had requested a demolition permit for the West Midland Avenue property in 2019. At the time, a spokesman for the developer claimed  the house was “beyond its useful life.”

Now, in a twist of events  the owner is seeking to preserve the stone portion of the historic home. An application to subdivide the property into three lots, which would designate one lot for the preservation of the home, was heard by the Planning Board on Thursday night.

According to Preservation NJ, Constructed by a member of the well-off Van Dien family around the 1840s, the house was likely one of the last stone houses built by the Jersey Dutch. Census records strongly suggest that this modest house was occupied during the 1850s and l860s by African American families who were part of a small enclave of independent, educated African Americans who were living in this community at the time. In 1869, the house was sold to Peter Ruffgarten, a recent immigrant from the Netherlands, who enlarged the home by adding a frame section.

The Paramus Historic Preservation Commission requested that the Borough administration consider purchasing this significant building to preserve it. The Borough passed instead eyeballing redevelopment.  The entire 9 plus acres of property is currently for sale, available for builders’ lots.

3 thoughts on “The Historic Van Dien-Ruffgarten House in Paramus Maybe Saved Yet

  1. To be honest, it’s an eyesore.

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  2. No one wanted the house for decades, it fell into disrepair, then a developer buys it. The home becomes a ‘significant part of history’ and the do-gooders come out in droves to ‘save’ it, with everyone else’s tax dollars. Government overpays for the house and lets it rot for another decade or 2. How many more times does this have to happen? Want to save the house? Buy it yourself and donate it to Paramus/Bergen County.

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  3. It’s history, man! The community’s history. YOUR history. Let it live.

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