Van Nest-Hoff-Vannatta Homestead
The Van Nest-Hoff-Vannatta Farmstead is located on a seven-acre property in Harmony Township, Warren County, New Jersey.
The property, which lies along County Route 519, was originally part of a much larger parcel that was acquired in 2001 by the State of New Jersey with Green Acre Funds. The remarkably intact farmstead was listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 2005 as a representative illustration of the rural region’s architecture and agricultural practices during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The original tract of 768 acres was likely settled by John Van Nest around 1763, and subsequently owned by brothers John and Abel Hoff during the early 19th century. In 1856 William M. Vannatta acquired the southern half of what was by then a 590-acre tract that contained the farmstead, by the right of John Hoff’s will. Vannatta moved to the Italianate-style new house overlooking the farmstead sometime in the 1860s, after which the farmstead was rented to a succession of tenant farmers. These tenant farmers included Jacob Fry in the 1860s, John Koch in the 1930s, Russell Reeder in the 1940s, Shorty Featherman 1945-1960. William M. Vannatta and his descendants owned the property until 1960, just over 100 years. In 1960 a contract of sale was entered for 289.35 acres with Carl Hartung and his wife Stella Hartung. In 1976 the property was conveyed to Round Valley, Inc., and in 1977 it was conveyed to William and Phyllis McGlynn. They conveyed the 7 acre farmstead parcel to the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
3026 Belvidere Road, Harmony, NJ