West Creek, New Jersey - Chair on a Roof

The locals told a story about the Chair on a Roof House. They said that the man who built the house had a wife who loved to gossip. After many years of the couple fighting about the wife's gossiping habit, the man placed the chair on the roof and offered his wife this compromise: She could gossip as much and as often as she liked as long as she only gossiped while sitting in that chair on top of the roof. Other locals have said that it was the home of a circus acrobat. [JoleBlon, 11/16/2009]

This is a very pretty house. It is hard to see the chair because the roof is so high. It is decorated with several colors. There is an island in front of the house that looks like it may have been a gas station at one time. Even the light posts are interesting. [Steve McNeil, 10/04/2009]

The chair still sits up on the roof and the Victorian house is well maintained. As we drove by I questioned the reason for the chair being up there -- I should have known I'd find the answer on RoadsideAmerica.com! [Linda/RV Vagabond, 09/14/2009]

The chair on a roof referenced in another listing is actually in Eagleswood Township, just south of the State Police Barracks. The building was constructed as a Victorian (or Edwardian)folly to hide a water tower in Holgate, on Long Beach Island. The building was eventually barged across the bay and placed in the current position. The chair, which sits on the flat roof of a very small room at the top of the house, was put there as a gag by a previous owner. [Jim, 09/16/2001]

[RA: The house looks like a mini-Victorian skyscraper, with the chair perched on its apex.]

I grew up in Manahawkin and passed this strange house with the chair on the roof each week as I went to roller skating lessons at the way-cool Tuckerton Roller Rink. I think the story was...or the urban legend anyway - that the owner of the house would go and sit on it every Sunday as passing traffic gawked. My mom told me this story and I would make her repeat it every time. And is STEWART'S still there? The drive in restaurant where they serve the root beer in frosted glasses? [Nanette, 06/29/2001]