Seven Oaks Park Orange New Jersey

The Seven Oaks Park Historic Association, Orange, New Jersey

Orange's Seven Oaks neighborhood once served as sanctuary for the city's
19th-century businessmen, who moved to the parklike suburb to escape the
crowds of New York.. Many settled with their families on Berkley Avenue,
building extravagant mansions fronted by lovingly landscaped gardens.
Much of the landscape design was done by The Olmstead Firm. By the
1880s, commuting became easier for Orange's less affluent as well, thanks
to a new line. At this point, smaller, more modest brick houses were built as
additional streets were laid. After a long period of decline, the neighborhood
is attracting a new generation of homebuyers, who are looking to restore its
affordable historic houses, whether those houses are modest or majestic .
Seven Oaks has quiet streets and amazing homes. There are huge;
Colonials, Tudors, Victorians and other amazing homes that are part of this
landscape. It’s really a site to see.

The Houses

The neighborhood is known mostly for its larger Victorian-era mansions,
including Queen Annes and Italianates.

Although the Seven Oaks Park area has changed somewhat since the
Colgates, Metcalfs, Fletchers, Fowlers and Thomas Edison first envisioned
their suburban developments, the area has retained a significant degree of
integrity. The careful placement of deed restrictions by both developers
insured a uniform appearance to the area. These guidelines resulted in the
comfortable spacing and complementary landscaping that reflect the
character of the community. The buildings are arranged with uniform
setbacks, are predominantly 2 1/2 stories in height, two to five bays wide,
wood-frame, brick, stone, or a combination, and most have porches or
porticoes. Lot sizes vary, but are usually consistent within the blocks, with
larger lots located on the corners. The wide, curved streets are lined with
bluestone sidewalks and curbs, mature trees, and generous front yards. The
general condition of the buildings within the district ranges from good to
excellent. Although some alteration has occurred within the district, usually in
the form of vinyl or aluminum siding, the district has retained a significant
degree of architectural integrity. The convenient location of Seven Okas to
corridors of mass transit as well as a varied pool of quality housing stock
continues to attract professionals to the area.

Architectural Overview of Seven Oaks Park
The Seven Oaks Park Historic District contains an excellent collection of
Victorian and period revival architecture, dating from 1870 to 1930, with
some earlier exceptions. When Seven Oaks Park's impressive architecture is
combined with its winding, tree-lined streets, and landscaped boulevards, the
feeling of a late nineteenth to early twentieth century suburban, residential
enclave is readily conveyed. The most commonly represented styles include
the Colonial Revival, with Georgian, Adam and Dutch Colonial influences the
most dominant, followed by the Shingle Style. The following styles are also
represented, in descending order of frequency: Tudor Revival, Queen Anne,
Italian Renaissance Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Mission,
Romanesque Revival, French eclectic, medievalizing, Art Deco and Gothic
Revival.

The 1900, National Register-listed, Stickler Library is an outstanding example
of an institutional building. The Orange Public Library is a magnificent
building built in the Beaux-Art and Classical Revival styles complete with Ionic
and Doric columns, and richly ornamented architectural details. McKim,
Mead and White designed the original library building in 1900 and it was
recorded as a national historic landmark in 1981.

The use of a historical revival style on the most important civic structure in
Orange complemented and reflected the existing residential architecture of
the area, an aesthetic sensitivity often missing in today's community planning.
The Stickler Library is immediately outside the boundaries of the historic
district. . Although not complementary to the surrounding architecture, the
glazed tile-clad United States Post Office, on Main Street, is an excellent
example of the Art Deco style on a civic structure; the post office is on the
New Jersey State Register of Historic Places.

Many of the homes within the Seven Oaks area were designed by architects;
some of these were published in the architectural periodicals of the day. The
Scientific Architect and Builders News published
many of the structures located in Seven Oaks.

The boundaries of the Seven Okas Park Historic District were drawn to
reflect the history of the neighborhood as well as extant architectural remains
of its various periods of development. One of the most striking features of the
area is the immediately apparent harmony of the neighborhood: the
complementary building sizes and scales, the width and curve of the streets
and the pleasant environment. The district's geographic location along the
slope of the first ridge of the Watchung Mountains contributes to the
environmental appeal of the neighborhood. The Seven Okas Park Historic
District has the largest concentration of architecturally imposing houses in the
City of Orange Township. It is also neatly cordoned off from the town by the
physically imposing barriers of the railroad on the west and South Orange on
the south. The north and east boundaries are formed by municipal boundaries
with the City of Orange and East Orange, and the City of Montclair,
respectively. These boundaries are strong, defensible edges for the historic
district. Around the perimeter of the historic district, however, some recent
incursions of incompatible architecture have occurred.

Seven Oaks Park Historic
Association

Seven Oaks Park Historic
Association
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