The oldest house in America is in NJ and was just sold
Being the home to the oldest log cabin home in the Western Hemisphere is quite a distinction. It would have been bulldozed long ago if not for the passion and dedication of Doris Brink and her late husband Harry.
They purchased the home from Harry's aunt Bea and uncle Charlie in 1968. It was built by Finnish settlers to the area in Gibbstown, Gloucester County circa 1638.
Our own Eric Scott had the pleasure of a tour of the historic home last year.
National historic site
It's been on the national historic register since 1968 and has been for sale for years. The original asking price was $2.9 million but just sold for $262,000 to a buyer who has promised to preserve it and offer free tours, according to The Patch.
Doris became a widow five years ago and kept dropping the price by hundreds of thousands of dollars until a deal was finally reached.
History of the home
Harry Brink used to help his aunt and uncle maintain the house since he was a kid. He got the Nothnagle Log House on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
An addition was added 100 years after the original structure, a colonial home that was constructed in 1738. The house at 406 Swedesboro Road will have to be operated as a museum without any profit.
Thankfully there are people like the Brinks who care enough about history and its preservation to pass up roughly $2.5 million to keep places like this alive.
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Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
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Gallery Credit: Dennis Malloy
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