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ROHALLION - The Mostafa Family
06/28/2011 - By A.J. Perna
Photography by AK Photo / Al Kruper
A Family Falls in Love With History
Like so many potential home or property buyers do in this digital age, the Mostafa family turned to the internet in 2006 to find more information about a new Monmouth County home that they had been researching and were interested in purchasing. But, real estate web designers are a smart bunch, and cleverly add other "suggestions" for properties on their web site pages. In the course of this online, fact-finding mission, it only took a few extra mouse clicks to point the Mostafas in the direction of one of the great historical treasures of the Jersey Shore area. And, with that, modern technology had provided an opportunity for the Mostafas to own and live in a living, breathing piece of history.
The Rohallion home was built in 1887 on a 64-acre parcel of land in then-rural Rumson, by the pre- eminent architect of the time, Stanford White, the same visionary who later designed the original Madison Square Garden. The house was commissioned by the property owner, Edward Dean Adams, President of the Niagara Falls Power Company, descendant of U.S. Presidents John and John Quincy Adams and eventual Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1929. Adams and his family had spent their winters in a castle in Perthshire, Scotland, also named Rohallion, which is the Gaelic word for "Little Red Hill," and asked Stanford White to draw inspiration from their winter home while designing their soon-to-be New Jersey home.
The grounds of the Rohallion estate were then, and are still, a marvel to behold. The Adams’ would often return from travel abroad with hundreds of specimen plants and trees for Rohallion, many of which are still flourishing to this day. The grounds as they stand now are a spacious, rambling five acres, with impeccable landscaping and over 3.5 miles of original roads and paths, all built of red shale to match the original design and color scheme of the home.
In 1929, Rohallion was purchased by a Rumson councilman, who shortly thereafter began adding to the home and undertaking a Tudor Revival remodeling, giving the house its present appearance. Rohallion now boasts modern amenities in a historical package. It is a massive home with over 16,000 square-feet of living space, housing 11 bedrooms and 9 full baths.
But size and grandeur are not important factors to the Mostafa family, who are just the sixth owners since the home’s construction 124 years ago. They point out that "Each owner has loved and enjoyed Rohallion dearly, but we are not owners, we are guardians of a magnificent estate."
The Mostafas’ favorite room in the home is the dining room, which has been restored to its original specifications, including the teak flooring and famous horsehair ceiling medallion. It is in this room that Enrico Caruso once performed and football legend Vince Lombardi signed his NFL contract.
There are interesting pieces of history all over the house. From the rows of cedar cabinets that are still labeled with Edward Dean Adams’ clothing preferences, to the old "key-box" that once housed every key to every door in the home.
The main focus of Rohallion’s interior is the assymetrical, multi-sided, mahogany paneled, two-story library and sitting area, patterned almost exactly from it’s namesake in Scotland.
A few years ago, the Mostafas invited botany experts from Rutgers University to identify and tag all of the exotic trees around the estate, discovering amazing specimens of Atlas Blue Cedars, Copper Beeches, Sequoias, Japanese Katsuras and English Oaks from the Hundred Acre Wood, among many others.
After various additions and remodeling, the exterior of the home is a cacophony of different materials and textures, with leaded glass, copper, wood, brick, field stone, and slate all adorning the outside walls and roof. Ivy creeps up the walls in places, and carved, stone gargoyles can be found all around the exterior.
Guests must pass through a massive solid wood door to enter into the richly paneled foyer area, with a subtle, white, barrel ceiling.
The Mostafas took great care to furnish their home with pieces and a color palette that would be representative of the time period of the architecture. A refinished bed with intricate, asymmetrical carvings is a prized piece and indicative of their personal style.
As grand as the main living areas of Rohallion can be, some of the real history of the home can be felt in the basement. A maze of unfinished walkways connect workshops, wash areas, the original coal chute, and the old kitchen – which still houses the full wall "ice box" that pre-dates refrigeration.
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