$3.4 million in work starting at Historic Cox House in Barnegat — and that’s just Phase I

BARNEGAT - A nearly $3.4 million project to renovate the exterior of the historic Cox House is underway by the county government, after four years of work to clean up asbestos and mold inside the Route 9 landmark.

Donna E. Flynn, a spokeswoman for the county Board of Commissioners, said the current project represents the first of two phases to restore the 19th century mansion — which will eventually become the offices of the Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

County Commissioner Virginia E. Haines, liaison to the Department of Parks and Recreation, said the 2½-story house will also serve at such time as an interpretative center for the 15.9-mile Barnegat Branch Trail — which is itself still under construction from Barnegat to South Toms River. The old residence sits a block from the southern head of the trail.

As part of the current Phase I work, the barn and carriage house on the half-acre grounds of the mansion will be completely restored on the outside but converted into public restrooms for trail visitors on the inside, as well as storage space for some archival material and maintenance equipment.

“For Phase I, the contract duration is 327 days and the project start date was Sept. 18,” Flynn said. “If there are no unplanned or unscheduled delays, like weather or supply chain issues, the first phase should be done in late July 2024.”

Phase II, which is the interior work, will start at the completion of Phase I, she said.

New Jersey Historic Trust Grants have been awarded for the project in the amounts of $750,000 and $550,000, respectively, for the first and second phases.

To date, $81,454 has been spent since 2019 on the removal of the asbestos and mold. The roof — which was replaced four years ago — cost $178,940, Flynn said.

Phase I involves:

• The entire house is to be scraped down and repainted.

• The doors and windows will be restored and reinstalled.

• The out buildings will be completely restored and converted into restrooms for visitors to the Barnegat Branch Trail, archival space and a small area for maintenance equipment.

• Landscaping; complete with gardens, paths, a gazebo sitting area and a flag presentation area that will be located on the south side of the house.

• New site lighting.

• New utilities.

• A tent event area on the north side of the house.

The residence was home to the Cox family between 1848 and 1983. However, only the kitchen and a second floor bedroom dates back to the early 19th century.

The original frame clapboard house was expanded during the late 19th century and its distinctive Queen Anne and Colonial Revival architectural style is the result of a major renovation that was completed in 1904.

The Cox House was added to both the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

The last Cox to own the residence was Mary Ann Cox, who was the publisher of the Beach Haven Times and The Times-Beacon newspapers. Cox took control of the weekly publication after her husband — G. Luther Cox, the previous owner and publisher — died in 1965.

Mary Ann Cox died in 1983 and her newspapers were ultimately purchased by Gannett, the parent company of the Asbury Park Press, in 1998.

In her will, Cox bequeathed her house to the Ocean County Library Commission. She wanted the residence to be used for a Barnegat branch of the county library system. However, because individual library branches in the county system are owned by the towns in which they’re located, the deed was transferred to the municipal government, which later determined that the house was unable to support the infrastructure of a full-fledged public library.

Nevertheless, an effort was made to honor the spirit of Cox’s request. The Cox House became the Cox Memorial Library in 1985. For more than a decade after, it was used for local cultural activities, civic meetings and library-related programs such as a children’s reading hour.

Litigation followed when the executors of Cox’s estate questioned whether the building was being used as she had intended. Cox had stated in her will that she did not want to burden township taxpayers with the upkeep of her former home.

In December 1987, a state Superior Court judge ruled that the county and the township were doing their best to honor Cox’s wishes. Barnegat had even established a Cox Museum and Library Management Commission to study and recommend public uses.

However, as maintenance costs skyrocketed and the money needed to restore the old mansion began to climb into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the future of the Cox House evolved into a local political issue for Barnegat officials over the succeeding decades.

“It’s going to get an adverse reaction if we have to raise taxes for it,” then-Mayor Joseph E. Vill told the Press in 2003. “We have people west of the (Garden State) Parkway saying, ‘what is the Cox House and why are you raising my taxes for this?’”

By 2001, a historical architect evaluated the property and informed the township that more than $500,000 in repairs were needed. Municipal engineers had also determined that another $69,000 to $88,000 was needed to stabilize an exterior carriage house on the grounds of the property.

Volunteers pitched in and did about $100,000 worth of repairs, but the level of restoration required made the effort inadequate.

A couple years later, birds and other animals had found a way into the home, causing additional damage. Township officials were forced to cover the furniture to protect the antiques from the droppings wildlife would leave behind.

In 2017, the Township Committee transferred the deed back to Ocean County.

The work now being done is by Wu & Associates, a historical preservation construction contractor based in Mount Laurel. The architect is Historic Building Architects of Trenton, which is also the same firm that designed the restored Cedar Bridge Tavern, also in Barnegat and completed in 2019, Flynn said.

Phase II of the project is expected to be finished in 2025.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ocean County NJ to spend $3.4M on historic Cox House in Barnegat