James Gowdey (Gowdy) House 
c. 1862

Circa 1860 Moses Taylor Sneden, son of Jacob Sneden, built for his bride, Maria Haring, an L-form two and one-half story Victorian farmhouse of clapboard construction with bargeboard trim. The house and outbuildings are sited atop the hill on Haring lands across the road from his father-in-law, Nicholas Haring. The farmhouse with the long tree-lined driveway and outbuildings present a fine example of a 19^th century Bergen County farm.

Proposed BCHS Marker

42 Piermont Road

The Gowdy Family

The Old Gesner Burying-ground

          The James Gowdey House, sited on the east side of north Piermont Road near the New York boarder is rectangular in shape. The original 1862 section of this dwelling is a 2 story gable-roof structure.  The exterior walls are of clapboard. Evidence of a narrow side hall construction remain. The main floor has been extensively altered into two large rooms with four bedrooms and bath on the second floor. There are some original floorboards in this section. A modern wing construction in the Dutch style gambrel roof with clapboard exterior walls is attached to the south side of the 1862 section. This section includes a center hall, garage with bedroom and bath above. Another newer addition flanks the old section to the north.

          The house was constructed in 1862 by James W. Gowdey (1831-1923) who in 1853 had married Mary Elizabeth Conklin (1832-1935, eldest daughter of John Gesner Conklin). The house and land remained in the Gowdey family until 1965 when it was purchased by James York and subsequently by Nicholas Langella in 1981. 

         A small 19th century barn is located to the rear of the house. Two additional modern-era barns were added in the 1990's.

          The Old Gesner Burying-ground" lies just to the south-east of the house.

Bergen County Historic Sites Survey, Borough of Rockleigh. 1981-1982.
Bergen County Office of Cultural and Historic Affairs, Hackensack, NJ