History of 147 94th Street, as obtained by Cape May County property transfer records.
The first transfer of ownership was recorded June 3, 1912 when the property was sold by Frederic J. Smith to Jacob U. Becker.
It was named “The Rosery” because it originally had rosebushes planted around the perimeter of the yard. In a very early photo of the house, a sign that says “THE ROSERY” is seen hanging above the steps. Three rosebushes can still be found along the property line and are believed to be from the originals.
There is only one known photo of the house from around the time it was built. In that photo, the large London plane tree that still stands in front of the house is a small sapling. Photos that show the house in later years document the growth of the tree.
When purchased by the Lansingers in 2011, the house had a fireplace in the living room but the flue ended at the roofline. It is believed that the chimney blew down in the hurricane of 1944 and was never rebuilt.
Renovations to the home have uncovered gas pipes behind the plaster walls that originally fueled chandeliers in the living room, foyer and upstairs hallway along with sconce lighting in the bathroom and bedrooms.
In addition to the large London plane tree that stands out front, some of the distinguishing features of the home include a wrap around porch, a stairway leading to a third floor, original wood floors and interior moldings and a full basement. Originally, there was a split staircase that accessed both the foyer and the kitchen. The back staircase to the kitchen was removed in a prior renovation, however the Lansingers had the back staircase rebuilt in one of the phases of their renovation. The house was originally covered in cedar shake siding that has since been covered with vinyl siding.
In 2019, the wrap around porch was rebuilt and the side porch enclosed. The original cedar shake siding was exposed on the interior of the enclosed porch along with the original window trim that was exposed during the renovation.