Community
Inside the 1745 Van Horn–Ackerman House, One of Wyckoff's Oldest Stone Homes
The Van Horn–Ackerman House at 101 Wyckoff Ave — a stone "telescope house" built by Barent Van Horn — was documented by the federal government in 1937 and later listed on the state and national historic registers as part of Bergen County's collection of early stone houses.
The stone "telescope house" — a small original structure enlarged with later additions — was built by Barent Van Horn in 1745, predating the Revolutionary War. It was documented in 1937 by the federal Historic American Buildings Survey under the name "John Branford House, Lafayette and Wyckoff," near the intersection of Lafayette and Wyckoff avenues — the surveyors' own shorthand for the corner where it sits. [1]
The house was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on Oct. 3, 1980 (No. 740), and to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 10, 1983 (Reference No. 83001571), as part of the Early Stone Houses of Bergen County Multiple Property Submission — a group listing covering the county's surviving colonial-era stone houses, recognized for its significance in architecture and in the region's early exploration and settlement. [1]
Federal survey photographs of the house, then documented as the "John Branford House," taken shortly before the National Register listing decades later. Public domain (U.S. government work).
July 2, 2026: This article originally reported that the Historic Preservation Commission's May 12 meeting minutes described 101 Wyckoff Ave as headed toward a bank auction — an accurate account of the commission's own public record at the time. A resident has since disputed whether that status still holds; the dispute is with the currency of the public record, not with how Wyckoff News reported it. That detail has been removed pending confirmation with the commission, and this article now focuses on the house's documented architectural and historical background.
Every claim in this article is drawn from public Wyckoff records. To dispute a fact, request a fact-check, or ask that personal information be removed, contact the ombudsman.
John Paul —