Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • February 6, 2013 In 1847, Esther Howland of Worchester, Massachusetts, designed the first handmade American valentine. Coincidently, the first U.S. postage stamp was issued in 1847, so the timing was perfect to mail those Valentine’s Day cards. Also in 1847, Bergen County resident Elijah Rosencrantz hired the architect William Ranlett to renovate his 1760s farmhouse as a prestigious family home: the romantic Gothic Revival-style Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus. Now a National Historic Landmark and museum, The Hermitage will celebrate Valentine’s Day 2013 throughout February with special decorations and displays that include original handmade valentine cards exchanged by members of the Rosencrantz family who lived in the home in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The rose-motif wallpaper that gives a romantic feeling to the front parlor, a room where the Rosencrantzes often entertained, is enhanced with vintage costumes and hand-painted vases filled with red roses. A table in the back parlor displays red paper, lace doilies, and other materials for creating handmade valentines. The Hermitage Museum is open for guided tours Wednesday through Sunday. Tours begin at 1:15, 2:15, and Valentines & Victorians at The Hermitage Valentine’s Day decorations against rose-motif wallpaper in the Hermitage front parlor. (Courtesy of the Friends of the Hermitage.) 3:15 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead ensure that a volunteer docent is available to conduct tours and to check for closings in case of inclement weather. The Hermitage is one of the nation’s outstanding examples of domestic Gothic Revival architecture. The historic house incorporates a stone structure that was visited during the Revolutionary War by George Washington and was the site where Aaron Burr met and married Theodosia Prevost. The house’s architectural appearance dates to the 1847 remodeling and enlargement by Ranlett. Today, the furnishings reflect the Victorian lifestyle of the Rosencrantz family, whose members lived in The Hermitage from 1807 to 1970. The Friends of the Hermitage, Inc., a non-profit membership organization, manages The Hermitage, a New Jersey State Park. The Historical Commission of the Department of State provides some funding to the friends through its operating grants program. The commission recently completed a major rehabilitation project to install state-of-theart climate control and repair the historic exterior details of The Hermitage. The friends offer tours of the house, exhibitions based on the collections, and diverse educational programming. For information about The Hermitage, contact Friends of the Hermitage by mail at 335 North Franklin Turnpike, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423, call (201) 445-8311, or visit www.thehermitage.org.