Acorn Hall was built in 1853 for Dr. John P. and Louise Schermerhorn of New York City as a modest Foursquare then known as “Schermerhorn Place.” Not long after moving into their new home, however, tragedy struck the family and the doctor returned to NYC a widower.
Augustus and Mary Elizabeth Crane, also of NYC, purchased the home and some of the furnishings for $11,000 in 1857. They took residence with their four young children (Mary, Julia, Augustus Jr., and Benjamin), and three years later transformed it into the much larger, Italianate-style country home that Acorn Hall is today. Mr. Crane would spend the next half a century as a proud “gentleman farmer,” expanding the carriage house and planting some of his nine-acre property with seasonal vegetables and a mixed fruit orchard.
The Crane’s three surviving children inherited the Hall in 1913. Over the next few years, their daughter, Julia, and her husband, Dr. J. Leonard Corning, split their time between Morristown and NYC. Her brother, Augustus Jr., an unmarried bachelor, also spent an increasing amount of time at their childhood home, retiring to the Hall with Julia around the time of her husband’s death. Surviving her brother, Julia left Acorn Hall to her nephew, Augustus Crane Hone, at her passing in 1935. Directly upon taking ownership, Mr. Hone and his wife, Alice Castleman Hone, gave the Hall its first and only modernization, which included a new heating system, electricity, and indoor plumbing. However, they left much of the original interiors intact, and so the Hall still retains much of its mid-19th-century features.
Augustus Crane Hone passed away in 1939; Alice followed in 1949. Their only daughter, Mary Crane Hone, recognized the historic significance of Acorn Hall and its largely unaltered interiors. Childless, she searched for a new owner who would preserve her family’s ancestral home.
In 1968, Morris County Historical Society agreed to receive Acorn Hall and, as Ms. Hone wished, operate it as a museum. The formal transfer of ownership was completed in 1971, and Acorn Hall began the evolution from house to house museum. Initial restorations and the documentation of its contents including furniture, fine and decorative arts, archival materials, and clothing took several years. By 1973, Acorn Hall was open to the public and has served the community ever since.
MCHS listed Acorn Hall on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 1972. The nominations were updated and expanded in 2016 to include associated outbuildings. In 2018, Acorn Hall’s exterior was restored through grant funding to accurately represent its 1860-1880 appearance, and the carriage house was restored through similar funding in 2022. Efforts are currently underway to conserve and restore the interiors, as well as the rest of the property, to its true 19th-century country aesthetic. These preserved resources provide MCHS with an inspiring opportunity to interpret life in Civil War-era Morristown.