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Living In History - Sgroi
06/28/2010 - By Michael Berman Photography by: AK Photo / Al Kruper
The Sgroi Family Creates Their Own History in a 300 year old Farmhouse
Living in an historic home has been a most remarkable experience for the Sgroi family of Colts Neck. The Polhemus House, Colts Neck’s oldest private residence, originally sat on 1,500 acres of pristine Monmouth County farmland with property lines described in the Land Grant as 36 chain links from thebig rock to thepi netre eand so on and so on. Theorigi nal Land Grant document, dated 1709, was donated to The Colts Neck Historic Society by the Sgroi family in order to make it available to the public to enjoy and learn from. The Sgroi family is still contacted from time to time by descendants of the Polhemus family requesting information or a guided tour of this most historic of homes. They are happy to oblige and share stories of their own history in this most unique farmhouse.
Sal and Linda met on a blind date and married in 1968. They lived in North Bergen, New Jersey and began a family. Sal’s carpet retailing businesses were located in the north Jersey area, but when it came to find a larger home for their five children to enjoy, Linda and Sal chose a pretty lot on the reservoir in Colts Neck to build a traditional Federal-style dream home on. They finished the new construction in 1985 and moved in, but Linda began to make changes to the home to suit her desire for an historic looking space. She thinks this passion for the past may have roots in her native England, where she grew up. She credits her husband with having the patience to deal with deconstructing what had just been constructed!
Finally, thefamily concluded that a new house was just not right for them and The Polhemus House, set on 18 acres, just happened to be for sale. The year was 1995 and the Sgroi’s new house was about to become the old house and the new house was about to become a very, very old house. The Sgrois’ children, Salvatore, Wesley, Marjorie, Amanda and Joe couldn’t quite wrap their minds and hearts around a 300 year old relic with air conditioning units protruding from windows and walls and worn floors. The Beehive oven was a mystery to them and the lack of closet space was a nightmare for Marjorie and Amanda. The adjustment period was short, when you consider the long history this house continues to write, and the younger members of the family as well as Linda and Sal are proud and privileged to be a part of this home’s ongoing legacy.
The long driveway, laid in a basket weave pattern, guides the weariest of travelers to the comforts of Colonial style living just inside the Dutch door at the top of theWide Horizons (the name given to the Polhemus House by a previous owner) hill. The hill itself, one of the highest elevations in Colts Neck, served as a lookout post by loc al militia keeping track of English troop movements during the County’s Revolutionary War years.
Sal’s passion for fresh baked bread began quite innocently in 1992 when a friend brought over a loaf she had baked in a just purchased bread making machine. This one event began an odyssey that, to this day, has reached a new level as Sal has traveled to Canada to participate in a bread making seminar and restored the original Beehive oven in the family’s beloved historic home. Sal used drawings from a 1940 Department of the Interior record to help reconfigure the long unused oven and hearth. The family, and no doubt a friendly spirit or two, could not be happier about Sal’s passion for artisan bread making. Sal has made many a lifelong friend just by offering a slice or two of his passionately and lovingly baked bread as an introduction.
The Sgroi family relocated the kitchen of their historic home to one of the original rooms of the farmhouse upon their moving in. Sal knew he would be restoring the Beehive brickoven and the baking room so he wanted to dedicate this space to this use. The oven originally was part of a summer kitchen, open air configuration common in the 18th c entury that had been enclosed by the Fredericks family (the home’s previous owner) in the 1940s.The Polhemus farmstead has only been owned by three families over the long 300 year history of the property.The well-worn wide plank pine floors in the kitchen tell the story of generations of use and countless conversations, ranging from the birth of a nation to the attack on Pearl Harbor to the election of our first black president.
An elegant white mantel surrounds an original fireplace in the Sgroi living room.The mantel was added by the previous owner as an ornamental addition to the more simple Colonial style seen throughout much of the rest of the house.The original staircase, newel post and spindles are in place and the Dutch door adds charm and a clue to the home’s Dutch ancestry.
Sal and Linda’s two youngest children still live at home and have learned to love their family’s historic house.Their bedrooms reflect their personal tastes and interests within the confines of this historic home. Hand hewn beams and wood paneling surround modern conveniences such as flat screen televisions and computers.The attic space has become a wonderful bedroom suite for the Sgroi’s youngest daughter Amanda to enjoy some private time or have a friend over for a visit.
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