Response to Letter by David Szilagyi

Interest in the Proprietary House is always welcome, and the Board of Trustees would like to offer the following factual information in response to any concerns about its historic value.

From time to time, controversy arises regarding the unique status of the Proprietary House as the only remaining official royal governor’s residence in the former 13 colonies, with a number of other sites making similar claims.  Over the years, Registered Architect and former Perth Amboy City Historian, William Pavlovsky, has had letters published in various magazines (Historic Preservation, Antiques, etc.) in an effort to set the record straight, once and for all. Pavlovsky has considerable expertise on the subjects of the Proprietary House and Colonial American Architecture, holding a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University and a B.A. in both History and Architectural History from the College of William and Mary.

The Proprietary House, although altered and enlarged, is sufficiently intact to be considered an original “surviving” structure. It was built 1762-64 specifically to serve as the official residence of the royal governors of New Jersey – not a specific governor, but the governor holding the office at the time. This is what makes it an “official” residence.  A fire during the 1780’s destroyed the Proprietary House’s interior colonial woodwork, but not the walls. The exterior walls and, with one exception, the interior partition walls are all of brick and are original. The layout of the 1762 house is as designed and would be recognizable to colonial New Jersey’s last royal governor, William Franklin. A number of other historic sites have claims as either surviving original or reconstructed residences of colonial royal governors.  However, only the Proprietary House is both a “surviving” original structure and an “official” colonial royal governor’s residence.

The Shirley-Eustis House (Shirley Place) was built 1747-51 by Royal Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts as his private suburban residence in Roxbury (then Dorchester, now part of Boston). Shirley Place remains standing today, but the official royal governor’s residence of Massachusetts at the time was the Province House in Boston, which was originally built as a private house 1676-9. It was acquired and remodeled in 1728 by the Province of Massachusetts Bay. What was left of it was demolished in 1922.

The Benning Wentworth House outside of Portsmouth was largely built and occupied by the first royal governor (1741-67) of New Hampshire separate from Massachusetts, but it was never an “official” residence. In fact, Wentworth tried to have the Province buy his sister’s brick house in the center of Portsmouth (the Macpheadris-Warner House, built 1716-18) to serve as the official governor’s residence, but the asking price was too high for the Assembly.

“Tryon’s Palace” in New Bern, North Carolina, was built 1767-70 as the official royal governor’s residence, but burned to the ground. The present house is a modern reconstruction on the original foundations. One of the house’s flanking wings, with a stable on the ground floor, survived the fire and is the only small portion of the original structure that remains standing today. The 1950’s reconstruction of Tryon’s Palace was based on the original architectural drawings.

As is well known, the present Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, which was originally built specifically as the royal governor’s residence, is a reconstruction on the original foundations.

“Whitehall,” located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, was built by the Royal Governor of Maryland, Horatio Sharpe, in 1764 as a country retreat. Like Shirley Place, it was Sharpe’s private home, not an “official” governor’s residence

The Ogden-Belcher Mansion in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was partially built and occupied by Royal Governor Jonathan Belcher during his tenure in office (1747-57). Although occupied by a sitting royal governor, it was a private, not an official, residence. Something similar can be said for the Trent House in Trenton. Lewis Morris, royal governor between 1738 and 1746, occupied it 1742-6, although he was a tenant, not an owner.

The Proprietary House is, therefore, incontestably the only surviving OFFICIAL royal governor’s residence in the former 13 colonies. The claim is valid.

Come visit us! The House belongs to all of us. We are open for tours the last Sunday of the month from 1-4pm.  We are preparing to open for events in the near future, so keep us in mind for meetings, weddings, showers etc.  Learn about this great historic site that has withstood the test of time. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to inform the public of its historic value.

On behalf of the Proprietary House Association Board of Trustees,

Lisa Nanton, President

Proprietary House Association