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History:
In 1767, the house was purchased by Ann Bartow DeVisme who moved to Ho-Ho-Kus from Manhattan with five children. One of Ann's daughters, Theodosia Bartow, and her husband James Marcus Prevost, occupied another house on the property, downhill from the present structure, nearer to the mill ponds. During the Revolutionary War, while Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Prevost was fighting for the British in Georgia and South Carolina, the women and children were left alone in Ho-Ho-Kus. During this period, Bergen County was in the center of the conflict, with troops from both sides passing through the area with regularity.

In July of 1778, word reached Theodosia that George Washington and his troops would be passing through Ho-Ho-Kus on their way from the recent battle at Monmouth Courthouse to White Plains in Westchester County. When the General and his entourage stopped at a local house, Theodosia sent an invitation to Washington for him and his men to come and stay at The Hermitage.

Among the visitors to the house during the Revolution were James Monroe, William Paterson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, Lord Sterling, Peggy Shippen Arnold and Aaron Burr.

Bergen County During the Revolutionary War:
Bergen County was a major continually contested area throughout the American Revolution. Here we can look back and get real insights into the process and costs involved in attaining independence. There were differences of opinion and allegiances among citizens, competing militia companies, and frequent incursions by both British and German soldiers on the one hand and by Continental forces on the other.

As the war approached and throughout the struggle there were divisions between settlers of Dutch and German dissent, among the Dutch themselves, between those who had close economic, military and ideological links with England and those who found colonial status a disadvantage or as a mark of inferiority. Divisions reached into villages, neighborhoods and even families.

Through most of the war the British presence in strength in New York City gave them almost continual control of the southern part of Bergen County (now Hudson County) and an ability to send forces northward. In the very north of the county, at the edge of the mountains, along the Ramapo River the rebels had almost complete control and an ability to send forces southward. For those in the middle, in much of present day Bergen County, there was from 1776 into the early 1780s almost continual guerrilla-like warfare.

While Bergen County and northern New Jersey were not flashpoint areas in the growing disputes between England and its North American colonies, there did develop, amidst much neutrality and a lack of attention, groups who spoke out strongly for and against the actions of the mother country in the years just preceding the Declaration of Independence.

About the Museum:
The Friends of the Hermitage, Inc., is committed to restoring, maintaining and interpreting The Hermitage, along with its grounds and its outbuildings in cooperation with the State of New Jersey, the owner of the historic house. The non-profit membership organization offers tours of the Hermitage, exhibitiond based on the collections, and diverse educational programming at the Hermitage Education and Conference Center on the site.

The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, is a National Historic Landmark, due to its significance as one of the nation’s outstanding examples of domestic Gothic Revival architecture. The historic house incorporates a stone house that was a Revolutionary War headquaters of General George Washington and the site of Aaron Burr’s marriage to Theodosia Prevost. The house’s architectural appearances dates to the 1847 remodeling and enlargement to the design of architect William Ranlett.

Other Web Sites:
For more information please viist these web sites:   

References:

 * http://www.thehermitage.org/
 * http://www.museumregister.com/US/NewJersey/Ho-Ho-Kus/Hermitage/Info.html