Howecommons

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The stately building that is the centerpiece of the William P. Howe Commons office complex was originally constructed in the very early 1800's. The property consisted of a two and one half story Federal style brick farmhouse situated on approximately twenty-three acres. The home was owned in the 19th Century by a series of leading citizens including Dr. Henry Wickham Blatchley (from 1792), James B. and Mary Ann McNair, George W. Ketcham, and Charles and Margaret Fish who purchased the home and 27.48 acres in 1865. The building was extensively expanded and remodeled in 1910 by William P. Howe, Sr. into a Georgian Revival style home with an imposing two-story portico which transformed the modest farmhouse into a southern mansion that Mr. Howe called "Dixie Farm". Subsequent owners removed the portico and columns and the property fell into a substantial state of disrepair during the economic depression of the 1930's. The property was foreclosed upon by the First National Bank of Pennington in 1941. Dr. William J. H. Abey bought the home in 1942 and restored it into one of the premier residences in the Borough. Dr. Abey sold the property to real estate developers Hunt and Augustine in 1968, who developed the residential neighborhood on the acreage behind the building extending along Abey Drive from Delaware Avenue to Curlis Avenue. They converted the mansion into an office building and constructed two other office buildings to resemble the original building...

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