anyone with info on old house near batsto ?

Heart of the Pines contains a lot of incorrect things, too. There's a picture of my mother as a young girl living off Turtle Creek Road in Wading River, with someone else's name on it. And of course it's Chips Folly, not Chip's Folly. I also like the Bass River Gazette website for articles in the back issues, it's a hoot. There were so many abandoned old houses to explore when I was a boy in the '60s and early '70s, but a lot of cityfolk discovered the pines and brought some bad habits with them. On Bulltown Road there's an old house trailer that is being used for storage, I crossed the US 8 times before I was two years old in the thing! My dad sold it to some folks on Bulltown Road back in the early '60s.
 

Theressa

New Member
Aug 10, 2007
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0
Do you know?

a lot of people who live on Bulltown call it the Hope House, it's said that inside the house (or what was the house) were warm spots on the floors from it being haunted. Unfortunately I believe the house was victim of Arson. I drove by there last year and all that was left was a fenced off area where the house used to be. From what I have read, at one time it was the old site of the Bulltown glassworks, which was started soon after Herman City folded. I don't have much more information, other then the fact it's a great place to spot bucks.

Do you know if a Ford family lived in that house during late 1920's to early 1940?
Thanks Theressa
 

turtle

Explorer
Feb 4, 2009
653
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a village...in the pines
Theressa,
I was under the impression that the Fords lived a little further up the road N/NW in "Tylertown" area. There are still Fords and decendents on Bulltown Rd. Are you related?

turtle
 

turtle

Explorer
Feb 4, 2009
653
213
a village...in the pines
Here is a photo of the Hope house/Voss homestead less than a week before it burned.

DSCF3805_2_1.JPG


And here it is a few days later......

DSCF3840.JPG


ouch.

turtle
 
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Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,603
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April 2003

voss.JPG



Voss1.JPG



There was an incident there with a member of this site a few years back. He parked in the driveway and a rogue ranger did doughnuts in the yard and then fined him for parking in the drivway where the sign said Keep Out. Doughnuts are okay, parking in the driveway not okay:siren:

Guy
 

Kevinhooa

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Mar 12, 2008
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Hammonton, NJ.
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Here is a photo of the Hope house/Voss homestead less than a week before it burned.

DSCF3805_2_1.JPG


And here it is a few days later......

DSCF3840.JPG


ouch.

turtle


Wow. What a shame. I didn't know it burned. It was a very neat house, and although I don't know if I would have lived in that exact one, building a replica would have been really neat (not that I build replicas of houses, it just seems like that would have been neat.) It seems like too much gets destroyed by vandals these days. I wish I could have been there to save some of the wood right after it burned. Does anyone know if the state currently owns this site? I'm guessing they do, but not quite sure.

Kevin
 

NJ Titan

New Member
Dec 28, 2009
1
1
Came across this forum and thought I'd chime in. The house (and barn) were bought by the state many years ago and used as a "halfway" type house for kids and families. They began to convert the barn into living quarters before they abandoned both structures (reason why it looked halfway remodeled). I was in the house years ago (1990's) and it was very nice inside (hardwood floors, etc.). Over years it deteriorated before succumbing to an arson fire. The barn out back was almost burnt down also a few months ago due to arson as someone lit the front of it on fire (if you look at it today you can see where it burnt), but the Fire Dept stopped it from getting into the rest of the building.

In reference to the Fords, Clayton Ford and his family lived closer to the Tylertown area which is about halfway to Basto Mansion from where this house was.
 
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spacechild1968

New Member
Nov 29, 2016
1
7
New Jersey
Better late than never. I was looking at some old photos and decided to do some research. Turn left at the old oak tree with the yellow ribbon , onto Bulltown road. The Voss house was down a way on the right. It was once a Christian Half-way house called Hope House Farm. My mother lived there in the summer of 1978 and my sister and I would visit for weekends. "The Farm" is what we call it. Hope House Farm housed around 20 people during that time. The property consisted of a main house in which the women and children stayed, a low sandstone wall that led to the back of the house. There were old out-houses and chicken coops behind the main house and the men's house just beyond the coops. The Men's house had a spiral staircase, a large area for meetings, a library upstairs, a dining area and the kitchen. A house was attached to the men's house that had a built in swimming pool that was never filled. It was kind of chilly in there so fruits and veggies were stored there. There was also an older section of house that was in shambles and was not used. "The Farm" was a working farm with U Pick blueberries, a veggie garden for the residence, pigs, chickens, a gold dog named Jeremiah and a pony named Babe. The pony was kept in a field to the right of the main house. To the left front of the main house was the old tree that had a zip-line that went from the front of the property to the middle of the property. There was also and old tree with a tree house that was not so safe. (But fun!). We would venture through the woods and find bee keeper hives and blueberry bushes. A lady named Mrs. Fisher lived across the street and had and had a white horse named Whitey. Whitey loved the pony Babe and would break out every chance he got and come over to the farm.
It was a strange time, but I am glad we had an opportunity to experience a communal way of life. ( definitely not for me) A few people had outside jobs but mostly everyone worked on the farm. We were always sent out into the blueberry fields to stay out of the adults way. Everyone would gather in the men's house for dinner. I remember there being 19 people at the dinner table. Everyone pitched in to make the food as well as clean up. After dinner was bible study. No television was allowed so everyone found ways to occupy themselves. We as children would explore the property and find fun things to do.
I went back to the property years later sometime in the 1990's. Hope House Farm was long gone, but someone was living there. I knocked on the door but no one answered. I decided to explore the property and take some photos. I found a bone in a pit behind the house ( I still have it), probably a deer bone, but who knows. I will always have fond memories of "The Farm".
1970sSCAN0008.JPG
1970sSCAN0007.JPG
 

gipsie

Explorer
Sep 14, 2008
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atlantic county
Haven't ben on here in a while and just read this thread.... Nick, I got my copy of Heart of the Pines at Batsto. Along with a ot of other great books. It wasn't cheap, but a great investment!
 
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jokerman

Explorer
May 29, 2003
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Manasquan
The Christie admin stopped funding a lot of State owned housing, parks, recreational areas. They tore down bunch of buildings that were on State lands at Allaire State Park and they also stopped maintaiing the parks as well. The roads through the pines on State land....guess who got those funds?
 

bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
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Pines; Bamber area
The Christie admin stopped funding a lot of State owned housing, parks, recreational areas. They tore down bunch of buildings that were on State lands at Allaire State Park and they also stopped maintaiing the parks as well. The roads through the pines on State land....guess who got those funds?

Land preservation foundations and other environmental groups?
 
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