Robbins-Wyckoff House

Robbins-Wyckoff House in August 2021.

Historical Overview

Standing at 408 Village Road East in the historic community of Dutch Neck is a 2-story, 3-bay side hall plan house with a lower 2-story ell and paired Victorian roof brackets. This structure - hereafter called the Robbins-Wyckoff house - is a contributing structure to the Dutch Neck community and a member of West Windsor's "100 Club."

Th Robbins-Wyckoff house house may have been built in the first half of the 19th century.[1] It was once located within a larger 2-acre tract containing all of the nearby even-numbered houses along Village Road East.[2] For a history of this joint property prior to 1854, read the history of the nearby Dutch Neck general store/post office (420 Village Road East) by clicking here. At that time, the property was owned by Jonathan D. Robbins, who had purchased it in 1833.[3]

After Jonathan died in 1866, his large homestead farm - also containing the present-day Robbins-Wyckoff property - passed to his daughter, Cornelia Wyckoff.[4] At some point, the property was further inherited by her son, Jacob R. Wyckoff. In 1916, this couple sold to West Windsor Township a nearby parcel of land upon which the Dutch Neck School was constructed the following year.[5]

This house remained in Wyckoff hands until 1936. That year, 97 years of Robbins-Wyckoff ownership of this house ended when the property passed to Charles and Doris Holman - also owners of the nearby Perrine-Wyckoff-Holman residence at 131 South Mill Road.

Dutch Neck in 1875. Notice "Jacob R. Wyckoff."

Other owners of the Robbins-Wyckoff house have included:

Alfred and Suzanne Califano (1946-56).
Louisa (Knowlton) Knowles and Perry Knowlton (1956-????).
Louisa (Knowlton) Knowles and Russel Knowles Jr. (????-1963).
James Mackenzie II and Helen Mackenzie (1963-68).
Herbert and Suzanne Spencer (1968-76).
Fred and Ana Fontana (1976/7-1987).
Charles Seymour III and Helen Seymour (1987-2011).
And others.

The house remains a fixture of the historic community of Dutch Neck.

Robbins-Wyckoff House in December 2018.

Go to Dutch Neck

Bibliography

“Mercer County Historic Sites Survey: West Windsor Township, Mercer County, NJ.” Princeton, 1988. Conducted by Kinsey & Hand Associates.
Mount, Joseph, Voorhies, Elijah, Voorhies, Sarah. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1819. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 13 Page 610.
Robbins, Angeline, Robbins, Jonathan D., Stryker, Jacob P., Stryker, Mary. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1833. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 26 Page 38.
Robbins, Angeline, Robbins, Liscomb T., Rose, Amanda, Wyckoff, Cornelia. “Indenture.” West Windsor, 1866. Located in the New Jersey State Archives, Middlesex County Deed Book 69 Page 28.
Board of Education of the Township of West Windsor, Wyckoff, Jacob R., Wyckoff, Nannie. “Deed.” West Windsor, 1916. Located in the Historical Society of West Windsor's archives at the West Windsor History Museum.