The Township of Millburn on Wednesday celebrated the official opening of the Parsil House, a Revolutionary War-era home in Short Hills that the township has spent more than a decade restoring.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 28 at 361 White Oak Ridge Road, according to the township's Instagram announcement. The township described the house as "built nearly 200 years ago" and called the event a milestone in preserving local history, according to a post on the township's Facebook page.
The Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society also promoted the ceremony on its Facebook page.
A long road to restoration
Millburn purchased the Parsil House in late 2013 for $635,000, using the capital fund of the township's budget, NorthJersey.com reported in December 2017. The house sits on a 0.62-acre lot at the corner of Parsonage Hill and White Oak Ridge roads.
At the time of purchase, officials envisioned the property could become a museum for the historical society. Exterior work including repainting, re-roofing and a new porch was funded by a $150,000 Essex County grant and township money, then-Business Administrator Alex McDonald told NorthJersey.com. Interior renovations were still pending as of that 2017 report.
Revolutionary War roots
The property's significance runs deep. Nicholas Parsil, a Revolutionary War soldier killed in a skirmish with the British, is buried in the Parsil family cemetery on White Oak Ridge Road across from the house, according to the township's history page. Thomas Parsil, also killed during the war, is buried there as well, according to the NorthJersey.com report. Thomas died during the Battle of Connecticut Farms and Nicholas during the Battle of Springfield, Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society curator Lynne Ranieri told NorthJersey.com in 2017.
The White Oak Ridge section is the oldest part of Millburn, Ranieri said in that report, and the house's age and proximity to the cemetery are what give it historical weight.
In 2017, the historical society said it hoped to open a welcome center in the Parsil House where visitors could learn about the Parsil family and township history. The society was then located in a building at the Short Hills train station.
A Millburn High School student, Aleksia Kulp, later created a comprehensive research report on the Parsil family cemetery as a Girl Scout Gold Award project, according to the historical society's website. The society said Kulp's work would serve as a foundation for introducing visitors to the family and the house once the renovation was complete.
