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Vass Homestead Celebrates 213 Christmases in Hardwick

December 15, 2025

A decorated Christmas Tree in a room at the Vass Homestead. — The Christmas Tree at the Vass Homestead. Photo by Joe Phalon.

The doors of the historic Vass House were opened for visitors last weekend, as the Hardwick Historical Society hosted a Christmas Gathering for residents, friends, and neighbors.

Located on the Vass Homestead at White Lake, the Vass House dates back to 1812, when Jon Vass, an immigrant of German lineage who was believed to have been born at sea on his way to America, built a home on the homestead property, which he’d purchased 10 years earlier.

Woman uses a vintage hand-crank Singer sewing machine from the turn of the last century. — Sandy Wolf of the Hardwick Historical Society demonstrates a vintage hand-crank Singer sewing machine from the turn of the last century. Photo by Joe Phalon.

Vass and his nine children farmed the land throughout the 1800s with the house remaining with several generations of the Vass Family until 1922, when it was purchased by George Ripper.

Ripper switched to dairy farming on the homestead land, but eventually the milk business ran dry, and — after he died — his widow sold the farm. The property changed hands several times during the next few decades, with one corporate owner intending to develop its 655 acres to a housing development, but that plan joined the dairy farm in the ambitious but impractical ideas file.

By the 1990s the house, barns, and property had fallen into disrepair, and, in 1997, the Ridge and Valley Conservancy, Warren County Freeholders, New Jersey Green Acres, and several organizations combined resources to buy the property.

Simple wood table and two chairs in a room with wooden flooring — Simple table and chairs at the Vass Homestead, much like what would have been used in the 19th century. Photo by Joe Phalon.

Much of the site is now under the control and supervision of the State Division of Fish and Wildlife. Vass Homestead was entered into the National Register of Historic Place and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places, both in 1999.

The Hardwick Historical Society has received a number of grants to restore the Vass Homestead and return it to its former grandeur. In addition, numerous programs are held at the home including the Dec. 7 open house for Christmas.

Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer

Contributing Writer

Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.