The Parker house stands at an entrance to what is now the Sickles Market and remnants of the original working farm on Rumson Road. (Click to enlarge)
Five months after securing state Register of Historic Places status, Little Silver’s 347-year-old Parker Homestead has been added to that list’s national counterpart, the Asbury Park Press reports Thursday.
The borough’s oldest surviving homestead, which includes a main house and three outlying barns, the Parker property was acquired by the borough from Julia Parker, the last descendant of the original family, who passed away in 1996.
Former Mayor Suzanne Castleman, who died in July, was a driving force behind the acquisition, heading a board dedicated to the home’s preservation.
From the Press:
The most pressing issue at the homestead now is stabilizing and repairing three barns on the property, estimated to cost $500,000. However Mayor Robert C. Neff Jr. said the listing on the national register now makes the homestead eligible for federal grants to do that work.
The board is scheduled to meet March 8 at 7:30 p.m. at borough hall.