The Van Houten House located in Westside Park is the oldest residential structure still standing in the City of Paterson. It was constructed during the period of early European settlement in the New World, and is an authentic example of Dutch Colonial architecture unique to the Mid-Atlantic region. The original stone house, and wood framed addition, were constructed circa 1741 by Garrebrant Van Houten. Ninety years after construction, in 1831 Garrebrant’s grandson Adrian Van Houten rebuilt the original stone house after a fire consumed it, while the 1741 addition survived the fire. The family farmed their lands with the assistance of enslaved Africans, which was common practice for Dutch settlers in the region during this period. It is speculated that General George Washington and his contingent passed by the house during the Revolutionary War in 1780, and he may have stopped by or even stayed over. The house remained in the Van Houten family for two generations. Upon the death of Adrian Van Houten, the house and 700 acres of surrounding lands including the Great Falls, was purchased by the Society for Establishing Useful Manufacturers (S.U.M.) in 1855. Later the City of Paterson purchased the lands from the S.U.M. for purpose of developing the first of two large public parks for the city. The house and surrounding farmland was occupied and in use for about 200 years. The Van Houten House still stands in today’s Westside Park as one of Paterson’s few remaining connections to its eighteenth-century past, from the period before English colonial rule in North America, and even before the American Revolution.
