History in the Making… the Ford-Faesch House Restoration

A Brief History of the Ford-Faesch House

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John Jacob Faesch, Ironmaster, 1726-1799

The Ford-Faesch Ironmaster’s House in Mount Hope, Rockaway Township, New Jersey was built in 1772 by Col. Jacob Ford, Jr. The two-story building was designed to be spacious and elegant as befitting the era of ironmasters who shaped the political, economic and social development of the region. Ford erected this mansion prior to building his own home in Morristown, another historic landmark, which served as General George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War and contains many striking similarities to the Faesch house in Mount Hope.

Earliest image of the Ford-Faesch House from mid 1800’s Harper’s Weekly Magazine

Situated on a hill overlooking the valley, the house was built in the Georgian style with symmetrical wings on both sides of the main structure. The house has thick native stone walls and the rooms are high-ceilinged for the time with nine English-style fireplaces including a nine-foot wide kitchen hearth. The original cost of construction was placed at £1400.

Front View in the 1960’s

In 1772 Ford leased the Mount Hope property including the house and local grounds to John Jacob Faesch, a Swiss native who had gained prominence as ironmaster under Peter Hasenclever at the Ringwood Mine. As ironmaster at Mount Hope, Faesch produced supplies and munitions for the Continental army and later purchased the iron works and surrounding land from Ford. He was recognized as a patriot who served as a civic leader, Common Pleas judge, trustee of the Morristown Academy and Morris County delegate to New Jersey State Convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution.

Rockaway Township Dedication after acquiring the Ford-Faesch House

During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington is said to have frequently visited Faesch in Mount Hope. It was during one visit that Washington gave Faesch permission to employ 35 Hessian prisoners captured at Trenton in 1776 to later work at Mount Hope. They were to include “wood choppers, two carpenters, one wheelwright, two blacksmiths, two masons, a barber and one beer brewer.” So important was the Mount Hope iron works that 50 additional men were exempt from active military service as long as they worked at Mount Hope.

Faesch lived in Mount Hope until 1787 when he moved to Morristown to pursue his role as Judge. After his wife, the former Elizabeth Brinkerhoff, passed away, Faesch moved to Boonton where he leased the iron works from Samuel Ogden and oversaw the workings until his death in 1799.

View Before West Wing Restoration, 2007

Subsequent occupants of the Mount Hope house were various owners and superintendents of the Mount Hope Mine. In the late 1800s, renovations were made that included the addition of a Victorian front porch, fancy eave ornaments, a stucco facade and a bay window. It was at this time that the west wing which had housed Faesch’s office was demolished. In the early 20th -century the house was used as a boarding house for single miners and in 1931 it was converted to a two-family house for mining personnel. It was occupied until 1973 when the last tenant moved out. The house stood vacant for a decade while vandalism and the elements took their toll.

The Role of the Historical Society of Rockaway Township

West Wing Foundation Archaeology, 1998

Through the Society’s efforts, the house was placed on the NJ State and National Registers of Historic Sites in 1973 and 1974, respectively. During the following decade the house suffered severe damage – both through the elements and vandalism.

View with West Wing Restoration, 2022