Stewart House {a.k.a. Dover House} (c.1849) [57 E. Water Street]
Colonel Samuel C. Dunham, the Toms River dockmaster, built this house in 1849 in the Italianate style. In 1860, Charles Stewart purchased the home and turned it into a boarding house. During the Civil War, sea captains began racing their sloops and schooners in regattas on Barnegat Bay. This led to the formation of the Toms River Yacht Club (TRYC). The club, considered to be one of the oldest yacht clubs in America, held its first meeting at the Stewart House, then known as the Dover House. Three weeks later, the first competition for what became a coveted sailing trophy, the $175 coin silver Challenge Cup, created by Tiffany’s of New York, was held. Since then, the Challenge Cup sailing race on Barnegat Bay has been in competition annually. In 1911, the TRYC, led by Commodore John H. Stoutenburgh, built a new larger building at the southern end of Robbins Street (renamed Robbins Parkway). Since then, that location on the river has been known as Stoutenburgh Place.
Stewart House
A.A. Brant House (c. 1867) [9 Allen St.]
Local builder Joseph A. Pharo constructed this vernacular two-story Queen Anne house for Edward Taylor in 1867. New York artist Julia Hanington purchased the house from Taylor’s heirs in 1882. She and her son Robert, added an art studio to the back of the house and connected it to the carriage house. Both Haningtons painted many oil and watercolor paintings of Toms River scenes and established a studio for local artists and poets. A.A. Brant, a Toms River banker as well as a coal and lumber dealer, bought the house in 1899. It was sold again in 1927 to Philadelphia artist Florence A. Chalfont. Renovations and remodeling in 1934, created offices for professional use. Later, a bay window and porch were added to the building.
Brant House