8. Willow Terrace was inspired by worker housing across Europe
Located further inland, Willow Terrace is a quaint and old-school private cobblestone street that dates back to 1885. Prior to Willow Terrace’s development, the area was predominantly lower-income and was inhabited mainly by Irish brick masons responsible for constructing properties in the area including Stevens Institute of Technology. Martha Bayard Stevens, the wife of the university’s founder Edwin, was likely inspired to lead efforts to establish the homes after a visit to Scotland, whose worker housing was more robust.
Martha worked with her husband and the Hoboken Land & Improvement Company to construct 108 affordable and clean homes for the brick masons, as well as community centers such as a hospital, school, and library. The homes resembled those of late-18th-century Europe on the interior and exterior, and they were built throughout the mid-1880s. Willow Terrace protected its cobblestone street and historic facades as the surrounding area become more modernized, and the homes were put on sale for as little as $500 after the company dissolved in 1940. Many of the homes remained empty by the 1980s, though high demand for the historic properties has hiked prices up to over $1 million for many of them.