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The McBride House and the Carriage House

The Carriage House

The Carriage House

The McBride House (2017)

The McBride House

The McBride house was built in 1890 by Theodore Havemeyer.  Originally called “The Lodge,” the building became a house that many of the Havemeyer’s guests stayed while they visited the area and family.  The house remained as a guest home until the sale of the property in 1970 to found Ramapo College.  Once purchased Ramapo College began using the building as the Admissions Office. In 1993 “The Lodge” was named after the McBride family following their generous donation to renovate the property and improve the school.  Thousands of students have now walked into its doors applying to the school or asking for a tour of the historic campus.  The house was designed as a Tudor Revival style home with a brick base and a wooden made second floor.  The house is reminiscent of the old English country cottages seen in the England countryside. For a home to be considered a Tudor Revival style home it has to possess certain distinct qualities. Some of these qualities are but not limited to: a cross gabled, highly pitched roof, doors may be half round or have decorative hardware and typically 1- 2 stories tall.  This particular style of house grew very popular in the United States between the years of 1850 and 1900.  

The construction of the carriage house was ordered by Stephen Birch to protect his horse carriages from the outside elements.  This small but sturdy building’s exterior walls are entirely built by cobblestone.  Stephen birch built this strong building strictly for his carriages.  During his duration of Stephen Birch’s time on campus Birch was constantly going back and forth between New York for work and Mahwah where he lived.  When he needed to go to New York he was chauffeured by horse and carriage to Mahwah station. There he would take his own private train car to his destination.  The carriage house was necessary for Stephen Birch because without the carriages we would not be able to be taken to the train to get to New York ( at least comfortably.)  Currently the carriage shop is under construction and will become a lounge type area for the students of Ramapo College and it’s faculty.  Previously the old carriage house was used as the school’s print shop and has been under construction since 2015