Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • April 3, 2013 Area History Day to include eight local homesteads by John Koster The third annual History Day house tours will be held on May 18 this year, and tickets are now on sale week at historic sites and by mail. The $10 ticket price allows tour participants to visit as many as eight historical homesteads in northwest Bergen County. The sites are some of the oldest and most important in northern New Jersey and most are used as local museums of cultural and family history. On the day of the tour, presenters will offer a look at some of the handicrafts and skills employed in Colonial and Revolutionary War times. The tour sites will include: • The Schoolhouse Museum, 650 East Glen Avenue in Ridgewood, an actual schoolhouse from Victorian times that has been converted into a museum featuring clothing, crafts, toys, Indian artifacts, and silverware and pottery from pre-Columbian days to the end of the 19th century. • The Hermitage, 335 North Franklin Turnpike in Ho-Ho-Kus, a Gothic Revival mansion built around an older Colonial home where George Washington once stayed and Aaron Burr courted his first wife, Theodosia Prevost, during the American Revolution. • The Fell House, 475 Franklin Turnpike in Allendale, former home of Patriot John Fell, a member of the Second Continental Congress who helped ratify the U.S. Constitution and spent time in a British prison until his daughter helped win his freedom through the influence of her Loyalist husband. This house was recently saved from the bulldozer by dedicated residents and is being gradually restored to its standing as one of the finest mansions in the county. • The Hopper-Goetschius Museum, 363 East Saddle River Road in Upper Saddle River, another impressive larger home. Grilled hotdogs and soda will be served in the picnic area during the tour hours from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. • The Old Stone House, 538 Island Road near Route 17 southbound in Ramsey, a museum that features a detailed look at construction techniques and vintage toys. The Hermitage • The Mahwah Museum, 201 Franklin Turnpike in Mahwah. • The Van Allen House, 3 Franklin Avenue in Oakland, near the terminus of Route 208, a colonial-era farmhouse typical of the homes that middle-income settlers lived in as they worked the land. • The Zabriskie House, 421 Franklin Avenue in Wyckoff, which offers a look at extensive crafts and family living from the Revolutionary War era through the Civil War era. Tickets will also be sold at Abma's Farm Market, 700 Lawlins Road in Wyckoff, Monday through Saturday from 8 to 5:30. Tickets may be purchased by mail by writing to the Old Schoolhouse Museum, 650 East Glen Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Checks should be made out to the Ridgewood Historical Society.