A Magic Triangle: Ten Ho-Ho-Kus Houses

My Ho-Ho-Kus triangle (Google Earth image)

Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, USA

One’s childhood neighbourhood is usually a memorable place.

Along with many others who grew up in this small town in northern New Jersey — and who graciously shared their memories in comments on my post, ‘Downtown Ho-Ho-Kus: 1960’s and Today’ — I know how lucky I am to have been raised in a beautiful community and to have such positive memories.

Thanks to Google Earth, we can now view 3-D images of where we once lived; though many places have changed, some have not. In Ho-Ho-Kus, much still looks the same. The shop I knew as Mufson’s may now sell children’s clothing, but the downtown character has been preserved. When you get into the residential neighbourhoods, it appears time has almost stood still.

Some houses, like Janet’s, have had additions built onto the original structures, but otherwise most look exactly the same as when my late brother Rob and I grew up here. The triangle of Gilbert Road, Glendon Road, and Blauvelt Avenue was the core of our first world. And speaking of triangles, it was only when we drove around the block and I took photos for this post that I realised how many of the houses in this part of Ho-Ho-Kus, known as ‘Cheelcroft’ after the 1920’s architect, seem to have a large triangular shape at the front.

Without further ado, I thought I’d share ten of the houses (by name of the children who lived there at the time), whose residents, rooms, and yards made up so much of that special time and place.

Ten Ho-Ho-Kus Houses

1. Carol (my family nickname) and Robby, my younger brother’s house — marked with a red star on the triangle image

Carol and Robby's house

If not the centre of the universe, it was close to it for us — a place that always felt loving and safe, thanks to my mother. Two years ago, clearing and selling this house when my mother moved to assisted living was one of the most difficult experiences — physically and emotionally — of my life.  I couldn’t have done it without Clive.

2. Next-door up the hill: Martha, Phil, and David’s house

Martha, Phil, and David's house (ours to the right)

Our next-door neighbours had a beautiful back yard, where Rob, Phil and David played a lot of baseball.  I often ran alongside their games, through the network of connecting back yards, to Karl and Linda’s house (see #7).

3. Across the street: Frankie’s house

Frankie's house

Frank was/is an only child and was relatively quiet when we were young, but he sometimes played with the neighbourhood kids. Other times, his friend Biff came over to play. Frankie’s house backs onto a strip we called the ride-away (an ancient trolley-track right-of-way) — subject for a future post — as does the next house on the list.

4. Across the street and up one: Susan, Libby, Kathy, Freddy, and Margaret’s house

Susan, Libby, Kathy, Freddy, and Margaret's house

One lunchtime when my mother — quite uncharacteristically — ran out of bread, she sent me across the street with a note asking my friends’ mother if we could ‘borrow’ a piece. Libby met me at the door with a note in hand from her mother to mine: “Dottie, I have just run out of bread! Do you possibly have a few pieces I could ‘borrow’?” My eight year-old sense of humour found this terribly amusing.

After I went to college, this family moved to the next town and the Ho-Ho-Kus mayor and his family moved in. My mother used to say Gilbert Road always got plowed first on snow days because the mayor lived across the street.

5. Next door down the hill, on the corner of Gilbert and Glendon: Barbara, Nancy, and Patricia’s house

Barbara, Nancy, and Patricia's house

The most important thing about this house is its driveway; I could run to the back of my house, cut through down the driveway, and be at my friend Renee’s house (see #6 next) in about fifteen seconds.

Sometimes I babysat for Nancy and Patricia; all three girls were younger than I. Their mother was the neighbour who kept a spare key to our house. I can’t remember even one time my mother wasn’t home when Rob and I walked in after elementary school, but I do recall several times in high school when I forgot my keys and went next-door to get the spare.

6. Renee’s house

Renee's house

The large left side of this house was an addition after Renee’s family moved away, but when we were in elementary school, the house still seemed big to me. Renee had three toy poodles: Pete (grey), Bonnie (white), and their daughter, Mitzi (black). Renee and I played a lot of card games and jacks in her TV room. Her mother usually wore her hair in a French twist and I thought she was beautiful.

7. Behind us, on Glendon Road: Karl, Linda, Jeffrey, and Susie’s house

Karl, Linda, Jeffrey, and Susie's house

This house was/is across the street from Renee’s, and its back yard connects with our next-door neighbour’s house (#2). Sometimes I babysat for the two younger children; other times, Rob and I played with Karl and Linda.

8. Behind our next-door neighbour, on Blauvelt Avenue: Jody and Kristi’s house

Jody and Kristi's house

Jody was a year younger than Rob and sometimes joined the backyard baseball games. Their mother was pretty and lovely and also strict in my memory, but she liked me enough to trust me to babysit cute little Kristi once in a while.

9. Down Gilbert Road: Coke (Corinne), Craig, Scott, Bruce, Brett, and Ricky’s house

Coke (Corinne), Craig, Scott, Bruce, Brett, and Ricky's house

This family of mostly boys — except for the oldest, who was a few years older than I was — was where Rob played with Ricky, who was closest to him in age. On the morning after Rob was killed in an automobile accident, their father walked up to our house. I have an enduring memory of him standing on the pathway to our front door, keeping a respectable distance, wanting to help, not wanting to intrude on our family grief, weeping.

10. Around the corner from #9, on Hollywood Avenue: Mabs (Mary Anne), Mercer, Austin, and Taffy’s house

Mabs (Mary Anne), Mercer, Austin, and Taffy's house

While Rob played with the boys at house #9, I loved all the girls at house #10. Mabs and I were/are in the same class, and our mothers were also good friends. We ran to and from each other’s houses via the ride-away: across the street, cut through house #2 driveway, run down the ride-away, straight into Mabs’ back yard.

So Many Others

Beyond the inner triangle, so many other houses hold memories: Susan and Brenda’s up the street on the corner of Gilbert and Blauvelt; Barbara’s on Blauvelt; then a bit farther up, Janet’s and Bobbie’s after that (hi again, Bobbie, if you’re reading this!). In the other direction, Kathy’s on the way to school; Jeanie’s across from the school; and Eleanor’s after that, as shown in ‘My Old Ho-Ho-Kus Street’.

It was just a suburban neighbourhood, like a million others, but in it were kids of all ages who played together — normal childhood squabbles and tears notwithstanding — no matter what. Renee, Frank, Mabs, and Scott were my age; everyone else was older or younger but we all had fun and got along (except for the mean girls down the street whose house is not included here).

That time seems so innocent to me now, my memories almost mundane in today’s world:  running, playing with dolls on front steps or hide-and-seek in backyards, riding our bikes, sledding down Gilbert Road, making forts and snowmen, sharing toys and books and snacks.  Children grew up and real life intervened, as it does, but in hindsight those years, in that place, did hold a measure of magic.   

One of the realities of living overseas is that sometimes you miss important events. In 2006, my Ho-Ho-Kus graduating class got together and several of the old gang visited my mother. My son happened to be with her for the weekend on a university break, and took a photo of everyone together.

Kathy, Debbie, Mom, Renee, Gary, Biff, Frank -- 2006

How about you — was there a magic triangle — or circle, square, or star — around your childhood home?

Next Up: My First Guest Post

The next post will be by Clive, on a rather sensitive subject (in my view) about which he has some definite opinions.

Cheers and happy memories.