“HYDRANGEA”
THE HOME OF REESE RISLEY
STONE HARBOR, N.J.
1908

Presented here are three interesting photos showing one of the oldest Stone Harbor homes. The first image is in sepia (a brown pigment), the second is in black and white, and the third image should be quite a surprise to our readers. The focus of this article is the year 1908, when considerable construction and development were taking place in the emerging resort of Stone Harbor.

A quotation derived from a source of information contained in the Stone Harbor Museum archives section really hit the proverbial nail on the head when it characterized photos like these by stating: “Everywhere the sound of saw and hammer is heard. On all sides new buildings are going up. The very atmosphere seems tingling with life and pulsating with energy and activity.”

The building in the background of the first photo was the grand residence of Reese P. Risley, who was one of the three founding brothers instrumental in putting Stone Harbor on the map. Known as “Hydrangea,” and located at 8421 First Avenue on the west side of First, this majestic structure was a fine example of the Queen Anne style of architecture.

So you might ask: what are some of the characteristics of Queen Anne architecture?

Queen Anne is a rather eclectic, highly ornate sub-style of the broader Victorian architectural movement throughout a good part of the mid-to-latter 1800s, reaching its apex around the turn of the century (about 1910). Typically, the style embraces asymmetrical facades, steep roofs, corner towers, and “gingerbread” trim. Other notable characteristics include a wrap-around front porch; second-story porches and balconies; diverse window shapes and bay windows; stained glass; wood shingles on the exterior; shutters; bold, multi-color paint schemes with intricate detailing; classical columns; decorative spindlework or wooden balusters; wooden or slate roofs; overhanging eaves; complex rooflines; multiple gables; and usually 2 to 4 stories in height. All in all, such homes were often best described as showcasing “decorative excess”!

What is also striking about this first photo is that it depicts numerous workmen and several teams of powerful workhorses engaged in the tasks of grading, road construction, and curbing, thus constituting what would become 85th Street, which extended between the ocean and the bay (east-west) on the borough’s road grid. (Note the surveying stakes in the ground that are visible on the right side of this image.) The photographer taking this picture was looking eastward, in the direction of the ocean.

This second photo depicts a somewhat similar view to the earlier image, again featuring the Risley cottage in the near background. It appears that an abundance of workmen are laying the sidewalk, and you can certainly see just how labor-intensive these tasks were back then, in the absence of mechanized equipment. Again, we are looking in a northeasterly direction toward the oceanfront.

One other important feature included in the view is shown on the far left: the first bathhouse establishment in Stone Harbor, with many cubicles (small private areas) for people to rent for the purpose of changing into their bathing and beach attire. And you can be sure that bathing attire, due to greater modesty standards and societal regulations, was more strictly enforced back in those days. Surely you can imagine just how important this building was because, in the early 1900s, there were no other accommodations or places available for people to change clothing who were, for example, spending just a day in the summer at Stone Harbor.

Now, check out the third and final image among this trio. Did you happen to do a double-take when viewing this last image? Is it what you expected?

For the record, this particular image is special because “artificial intelligence,” or “AI,” played a part in its appearance. Recently, a good friend of mine who had purchased a subscription to ChatGPT Go ran this old 1908 sepia picture through ChatGPT. My colleague then kindly sent me this altered and enhanced photo that, as you can readily see, was “colorized.” As you probably already know, today’s technology enables us to “magically” change aspects of a historic image, just like in this case.

This remarkable full-color view shows: (1) Rummel’s store, second from the left; (2) Reese Risley’s home, “Hydrangea,” prominently highlighted in the center; and (3) the iconic 5-story Harbor Inn in the upper right. It is my view that we need to sit back and savor this creation, with such a lovely skyscape. Might such colorized images of old historic photos be called “historical candy”? Perhaps I will add more such AI-generated original photo images to these accounts in the future. What do you think about utilizing such colored photos on occasion?

In closing, the Risley cottage survived the test of time for about 100 years, despite many coastal storms, hurricanes, nor’easters, and extreme high tides. While being a residential property for the first 45 years or so, the Risley property next became a guest house from the early 1950s to 1987, and then it became a popular bed and breakfast into the early 2000s. Unfortunately, the Risley house no longer stands. Perhaps some of the so-called old-timers may remember this iconic structure with its rich history. Are you one such person?