It sits empty and forlorn next to the ramps leading from the Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge to Sandy Hook and the Gateway National Recreation Area in Monmouth County.
But the tattered building, known as the Sandlass House, is historically significant to New Jersey as the last standing structure of the 19th century Highland Beach Resort, one of the first to be built at the Jersey Shore.
The house is facing demolition by the National Park Service, which believes it’s too vulnerable to future storm damage. Advocates, including the Jersey Coast Heritage Museum, have spent over a decade trying to preserve the landmark.
Brian Samuelson, among those willing to fund a restoration effort, has pledged money toward a roof repair, saying it could cost less than $5,000.
“I’m just enthusiastic about the landmark and the history of the Jersey Shore ever since I was 4 years old,” Samuelson said.
Samuelson was one of the first stewards of former military homes at Fort Hancock located on Sandy Hook north of the former beach club. He leases a home there through a program run by the Park Service that helps preserve the fort’s historic buildings by renting them out.
The same could be done with the Sandlass House, Samuelson said. “I think anybody can get that building up and running for half-a-million dollars,” he said.
The property falls under the National Park Service’s jurisdiction. The house and land were incorporated into a state-protected park in 1962 and then reverted to the federal government after the fort was decommissioned in the 1970s.
The Park Service considered demolishing the building as far back as 2014, two years after Tropical Storm Sandy, said Daphne Yun, a public affairs officer for the Park Service.
“Since Hurricane Sandy, the (National Park Service) has consistently noted that this building is not a viable investment because the location of the building is highly vulnerable to future coastal storms.”
The Sandlass House was William Sandlass’ family residence, who founded the resort in the 1880s. The beach club catered mostly to day-trippers from North Jersey and New York City. During its heyday, 15,000 people visited on weekends, traveling by ferry or train.
The 5-acre beach club was situated between the Navesink River and Atlantic Ocean, making it distinctive from other oceanfront destinations, said Susan Sandlass Gardiner, William Sandlass’ granddaughter.
“There isn’t any other narrow body of land where a resort exited where you could swim in the river and swim in the ocean at the same business on the same day,” Gardiner said.
The Sandlass House included a storefront and a nightclub on its first floor and living quarters on its second floor. Gardiner lived at the home, working summers at the beach club.
The resort faded once the Garden State Parkway opened, making New Jersey’s southernmost shores more easily accessible. The resort closed in 1962, but the house remained.
During World War II, the federal government requested the house be moved from its original seaside location to its present home next to the Navesink River.
New Jersey later took possession of it through eminent domain when the state park was created.
For much of its existence, Highland Beach was open to the public and required no membership and helped define Shore resort development for decades to come.
“I think for that reason, that history should be preserved and saved at Sandy Hook because it’s such an important part of the development of the Jersey Shore as we know it today,” Gardiner said.
Stories by Eric Conklin
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.