Where the Shore's Preservation Money Actually Lands

Where the Shore's Preservation Money Actually Lands

Preservation on the Monmouth shore is not a single act. It is a two-track system — one track where families earn public honor for a home they have kept standing, and another where the county writes a check. This fall, both tracks moved at once: the Monmouth County Historical Commission announced its 2026 Preservation Awards program, and the New Jersey Historic Trust approved a $75,000 grant to Allaire Village, Inc. for the Deserted Village of Allaire Historic District.

• The Monmouth County Historical Commission (MCHC) administers both the Preservation Awards (an annual honor) and the Historic Preservation Grant Program (a county matching grant for municipalities and nonprofits).
• The 2026 Awards program opened its nomination cycle in early 2026, with deadline April 17 and Awards Night on June 1, 2026. For the first time, historic cemetery restoration is eligible.
• The grant program just opened its next cycle: Declaration of Intent due October 7, 2026 (10 days from publication), full application November 12, 2026, workshop September 28, 2026 at 6 p.m..

What the 2026 Awards Recognize

The Preservation Awards are the county's public record of who kept a piece of Monmouth standing. In 2025, Peter and Linda Foy took the award for their restoration of Ashling Cottage in Spring Lake. In 2023, the award went to Lynda and Christian Cloud for the faithful restoration of the 1889 Borden Carriage House — known as the "Clock House" — at 68 West River Road, Rumson. The program is not limited to landmark estates; it reaches the working homes and small commercial buildings that form the visual spine of the shore's villages.

• Nominations are open to residents, organizations, business owners, and municipal officials who have recently preserved a historic structure.
• The 2026 cycle is tied to the nation's 250th anniversary of independence, which is why the Board of County Commissioners (Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone) encouraged a broad field of applications.
• Nominations go through the Historical Commission's page on the county website (visitmonmouth.com, Department tab); questions go to Margaret.SharpWalton@co.monmouth.nj.us.

The Money Track: A $75,000 Allaire Grant

On October 1, 2026, the New Jersey Historic Trust announced $15,227,208 in recommended Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund grants statewide. Of the 74 recommendations, one went to a Monmouth County institution: Allaire Village, Inc., $75,000, for work on the Deserted Village of Allaire Historic District in Wall Township (Farmingdale). The village — a 330-acre living-history site inside Allaire State Park, with buildings dating to 1750 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974 — is operated by a nonprofit that relies on volunteers for its blacksmith, tinsmith, carpentry, and bakery demonstrations.

• The $75,000 grant is for capital preservation work on a site already on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.
• The county's own matching-grant program (the 2027 cycle) raised its cap to $12,000 per applicant (up $2,000 from prior cycles), on a dollar-for-dollar cash match — in-kind matching is not allowed.
• Active houses of worship are no longer eligible for the county grant, per a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling.

Why it matters locally

Because the two tracks are designed for different audiences, and most shore families only know one of them. The Awards track is where a family that has spent a decade restoring a Rumson or Brick Township frame house can finally get the county's name on the work. The grant track is where a municipality or a nonprofit that is trying to keep a building standing — a historic village, a cemetery, a small commercial district — can get county and state dollars to do the actual bricks-and-mortar work. A family that wants its gift to land close to home has a clear, dated, and verified path: a preservation plan, a matching gift, or a co-branded family-education partnership with one of the institutions that are the real beneficiaries.

How to Get Involved

• Nominate a home, building, or project. If a family recently restored or preserved a structure, submit a 2026 Preservation Award nomination (deadline April 17, 2026) via the Historical Commission's page at co.monmouth.nj.us; questions: Margaret.SharpWalton@co.monmouth.nj.us.
• Support the Allaire grant. Allaire Village, Inc. is a nonprofit living-history museum inside Allaire State Park, Farmingdale (dep.nj.gov); the $75,000 NJHT recommendation was announced October 1, 2026 (nj.gov).
• Apply for the county matching grant. The 2027 Historic Preservation Grant cycle opens with a Declaration of Intent on October 7, 2026, full application November 12, 2026, and a workshop September 28, 2026 at 6 p.m. (2027 grant instructions, visitmonmouth.com). Minimum $500, maximum $12,000, dollar-for-dollar cash match.
• Follow the state-level funding. The New Jersey Historic Trust's Preserve New Jersey program funds capital preservation across the state; Monmouth County sites are regularly represented in the annual recommendations.

How Love of Humanity Supports This Work

Love of Humanity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that treats preservation as a family-education opportunity, not just a bricks-and-mortar project. We help Monmouth families connect their giving to the institutions that are the real beneficiaries — Allaire Village, the Rumson and Brick Township historic districts, and the county's own matching-grant program — with structure: co-branded family-education programs, a Local Impact Fund that routes gifts to named, verifiable preservation projects, and the reporting families expect from their own money. Where a family has been keeping a building standing, we help that work get the county's recognition and the state's funding; where a family is starting, we help a legacy land in a program that is actually on the grant list.