Following is an article and message from Peter M. Bush, Jacob Sloat descendant and founding member of Harmony Hall, the 1848 Greek Revival house built by Jacob Sloat and now on the National Historic Registry. The article touches on an upcoming episode on HGTV that includes a peek at the house on Johsontown Road of Pat Cannon and popular local musician Dave Keyes and the legend of Cowboy of the Ramapos, Claudius Smith. The Cannon’s and Keyes’s historic house was also used this past year as a setting for the NBC sci-fi show Believe, a dark noirish show that revolves around a catastrophic event similar to the Rapture.

By Peter M. Bush

This Friday August 29, 2014 at 8 a.m. Who’s Lived in My House will feature the historic Pre-Revolutionary War Johnsontown Road farmhouse owned by Pat Cannon and Dave Keyes (please check your local listings for HGTV).

With original design elements that feature Doric inspired columns at the front porch elevation; the house has borne witness to much early regional history, including a visit from the notorious “Cowboy of the Ramapos”, Claudius Smith, to which this HGTV episode will speak, courtesy of Harrison.

Known for decades simply as “The Farm”, this property is also very important given that early barn structures which hearken to our regions agrarian past remain, thanks to the efforts and vision of current owner Pat Cannon who for many years has housed her beloved horses on site.

My great grandmother and her husband were the owners of the house and farm for many years, followed in the early 1950’s through the mid 1970’s by Robert Johnson, one of the founding partners in a firm that would become Merrill Lynch. His wife Claire Stenz Johnson, a Manhattan interior designer of note, restored the house and site as their much loved country home during that time.

   Old barn, still standing and in use at the Johnsontown property. Full view.

Residents of Sloatsburg and this region are fortunate to have several surviving highly important historical homes and outbuildings in an area of environmental significance.

This includes the substantial 1848 Greek Revival house Harmony Hall. Home of inventor, manufacturer, philanthropist Jacob Sloat, preservationists desire that house and site to be the fulcrum of a downtown revitalization effort in Sloatsburg NY and a cultural resource center for our historic region. As with the Cannon/ Keyes home, many fine original exterior and interior aesthetic elements have survived over the decades at Harmony Hall, including substantial Italianate inspired plaster decoration.

Stay tuned for 2015 news on efforts to move restoration forward at the State and National register listed, Harmony Hall-Jacob Sloat House, Village of Sloatsburg, Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York.

With wishes for an enjoyable, healthy and happy Labor Day and Fall 2014 Season to all,

Peter M. Bush