Local Historic Sites & Districts

In 1990, the Planning Board and Mayor and Council approved the recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission to designate local historic sites, thereby incorporating the recommendation into the local zoning code.

Eight sites were designated in 1995 and an additional site was added in 2002 after review and public hearings:

  • Christie Parsels House, 195 Jefferson Avenue
  • Cotswold Mansion, Carriage House and Entrance Gate, 1 Byrne Lane, 40 Inness Road
  • Demarest-Lyle House, 91 West Clinton Avenue
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, 135 Highwood Avenue
  • The Palisades, Hudson River
  • Roelof Westervelt House, 81 Westervelt Avenue
  • Sickles-Melbourne House, 48 Knoll Road
  • Tenafly Railroad Station, Town Center
  • Theodore Roosevelt Monument, Roosevelt Common

Historic Preservation Commission

To preserve the architectural and historic significance of streetscapes, the Mayor and Council, at the recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission, designated Atwood’s Highwood Park and Magnolia Avenue as residential historic districts.

Atwood’s Highwood Park District

Atwood’s Highwood Park District was designated by the Borough in 1997 as the first residential historic district. It encompasses parts of Engle Street, Serpentine Road, Valley Place, Linden Street and Huyler Avenue and is located southeast of the Atwood Railroad Station, the Borough’s signature landmark. The District has seven homes associated with Daniel Topping Atwood’s work as well as Victorian gems designed by others.

Magnolia Avenue Historic District

The Magnolia Avenue Historic District, designated in 2000, encompasses both sides of Magnolia Avenue between Hillside Avenue on the south and Highwood Avenue on the north. Magnolia Avenue’s homes, built between 1880 and 1930, contain an excellent collection of Victorian and Period architecture. Local lawyer Ashbel Green originally developed the area to attract middle class and wealthy New Yorkers to the Borough, only recently made accessible by train. The neighborhood is characterized by deep setbacks, two and one-half story heights, open porches and mature trees.

  1. Christie-Parsels House
  2. Cotswold Mansion
  3. Demarest-Lyle House
  4. Elizabeth Cady Stanton House
  5. The Palisades
  6. Roelof Westervelt House
  7. Sickels-Melbourne House
  8. Tenafly Railroad Station
  9. Theodore Roosevelt Monument

The Christie-Parsels House is located at 195 Jefferson Avenue.

Early OwnersChristie-Parsels House

Two colonial families, Christie and Parsels, built the original structure. In 1791, William Christie bought 100 acres in Tenafly and in 1804 built the original red sandstone wing of the house. Samuel Parsels built the Jefferson Avenue portion, in 1836, of similar stone. Other early owners include the Coles, who had forebearers on both sides in the American Revolution, and the Newcombs.

Renovations

Later additions have complemented the historic structure, while the landscaping has utilized stone cut in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and brought recently to the grounds. On the National and State Registers of Historic Places and Historic American Buildings Survey. Marked by a Bergen County Historical Society Plaque. Privately Owned.