NORWOOD—Once a Colonial home, later a restaurant, now just a memory. This little piece of local history is recent enough that many people reading right now will surely remember it.
And, sadly, our memories, along with a few photographs, are the only places where it can be found. Two decades ago, a fire took out the historical structure that had stood at 130 Tappan Road in Norwood for over 200 years.
When the photograph at top was taken in the 1970s, the structure at Tappan Road and Blanch Avenue was a restaurant called Stegemann’s Cock ‘n’ Bull, a popular place for intimate candlelight dining. However, the building itself went back much, much farther.
Originally the residence of blacksmith Christian Campbell and his wife, Dirkje (a name of Dutch ancestry), the house itself was built circa 1770. In 1785, Campbell was taxed for a tavern, leading one to conclude that the property was also used for that purpose.
In 1789, the Campbells sold the house and land to Capt. Thomas Blanch (1740–1823), a prominent patriot and soldier of the Revolutionary War. Blanch reportedly bought the property for a sum of 112 pounds 10 shillings.
The book “Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey,” written in 1900 by Cornelius Burnham Harvey, relates that Blanch was one of the most prominent men in Bergen County in his day.
“He was a magistrate and held other township and county offices. He raised and was captain of a company of volunteers from Bergen County during the Revolutionary struggle.”
Blanch and his wife, Effie, whom he married in 1762, had an unbelievable (though not so uncommon for the day) 13 children, nine girls and four boys.
On July 15, 1806, the house passed from Capt. Blanch to his son, Richard. Although Richard was the fourth child, he was the eldest boy. The stipulation was that Richard was not to sell the house while his father was still alive. Thomas also helped Richard build an addition to the house, which became a way station for stage coaches.
Capt. Blanch and his wife, Effie (née Mabie), are both buried at Tappan Reformed Church Cemetery. Effie, despite having borne 13 children at a time when it was common for women to die due to childbirth complications, lived to the age of 93.
In 1924 the home became an inn. Decades later, in 1967, new owners Chris and Jeanne Stegemann restored the old homestead and incorporated its historic charm into the ambiance of their restaurant.
One 1972 review of Stegemann’s noted, “Low, beamed ceilings and brick fireplaces hung with pewter and copper in both dining rooms are reproductions of the originals that can still be seen in the grill room.” Befitting the name, the menu featured a number of German dishes.
In 1983, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
By the mid-1980s, another restaurant, Brandywine Inn, was operating there. In the following decade it became Timothy’s, which in 1997 was voted the most romantic restaurant in Bergen County.
Not long after, on May 26, 1997, the building was destroyed by a fire.