Look directly ahead for a sturdy, brown sandstone house with white columns, green shutters, and a plaque out front-it stands out with its classic Georgian symmetry right on the corner by the library.
There’s something timeless in the thick stone walls of the Henry Guest House, isn’t there? Built back in 1760-when lightning rods were still a novelty-it was the pride of Henry Guest, who knew John Adams and traded thoughts with Thomas Paine. He once boasted, “Just keep a roof on it, and it’ll outlast the angels,” -clearly, he had faith in both his masons and his descendants. You can almost picture him in his tannery coat, out front, welcoming guests while cartwheels rumbled down what’s now New Street. By 1817, people called this one of New Jersey’s finest stone houses. But, wouldn’t you know it, the 20th century brought bulldozers instead of carriages... The house nearly met its end-until 1924 when it took a rather unglamorous trip up Livingston Avenue on rollers, as if deciding, “Hey, I think I’ll live by the library now.” These days, after a major makeover in the '90s, it’s still standing-as promised-hosting meetings, proudly stubborn, and weathering every new century with a certain old-school charm.
