1920 Farmhouse in Bedford, New York

The town of Bedford, NY was founded on December 23, 1680 when twenty two Connecticut Puritans purchased a strip of land from the Lenape Indians for coats, blankets, wampum and cloth.  Chief Katonah signed the deed, photo of the actual document below, for the land they called the "Hopp Ground" due to the wild growth of humulus lupulus, what we now know as hops.

King William III declared Bedford a part of New York in a 1700 royal decree, settling a three year border dispute with Connecticut.  After the Battle of White Plains in 1779, the British burned the town, however the fire allowed residents to add what is now Westchester County's oldest government building: The Court House in Bedford Village, which still stands today 223 years after its original construction.

1890's Brick Manor Home in Morristown, New Jersey

It's been over 3,000 years since Native Americans first settled the land under modern day Morristown, however the town has remained in the spotlight of history since European settlement in the early 1600s. George Washington chose the famed Morristown Green as the location for his Revolutionary War headquarters in 1777, moving to the Ford Mansion, which still stands, in 1780. The Morris Canal, which allowed goods to flow from the Delaware to the Hudson was conceived in the town in 1822. Samuel Morse built the first telegraph on January 6th 1838 at the Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, kicking off the information age eleven days later with the first public demonstration.

The primary reason homeowners choose Morristown today is the same reason George Washington chose Jacob Arnold's Tavern for his headquarters in the 1700's. Located 30 miles from Manhattan and 75 miles from Philadelphia, the city is a well placed hub for what is a surprisingly rural part of New Jersey. While the public schools have fallen significantly behind some of the surrounding school districts, The Delbarton School, for boys, Villa Walsh Academy, for girls, and Morristown-Beard School, co-ed, are all within the town's three square miles.

Welcome

Seeing how this is the first Hapgood Project post, I should perhaps start by actually describing the goal of this "project." Frank Abagnale, Jr could probably say it best: "I'm not an architect. I never went to architecture school. I'm not a realtor, or a Harvard graduate or a Lutheran." What I am is someone who has an appreciation for real estate, history, design, marketing, finance, sports, the outdoors, you name it really, and I'm hoping to incorporate it all into this project. Not really sure where this will lead, or even what the project is going to be entirely, so we'll see where it ends up; I really have zero expectations, so it's all upside from here. Hope you like it enough to check back often.