THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THE HOUSE

Thomas F. Vietor is described in the Amherst College archives as an “importer and commission merchant.” In 1890 he became a member of Frederick Vietor & Achelis, established by his maternal and paternal grandfathers when in 1840 they took over a firm founded by Charles Graebe in 1825. The firm was described by The New York Times as one of the largest dry goods commission houses in the city, with four branches in Europe.

Thomas F. Vietor married Elizabeth Bacon Allen in 1913; they had four children: Mary Ann, Thomas F., Jr., Oliver, and Alice. The lives of the Vietor and Achelis families, both of German descent, were intertwined. Thomas F. Vietor’s mother was the former Annie Achelis. When building their house on Rumson Road, Thomas and Elizabeth acquired 13 additional acres from their neighbor to the west. She was Bertha Achelis, a German heiress and wife of Fritz Achelis, grandson of the Thomas Achelis who founded the firm. Other members of the Achelis family also owned property nearby.

The two families were socially prominent in New York and New Jersey. Thomas Vietor held numerous directorships in banking and commerce. Who’s Who in Finance and Banking listed him as treasurer of Lenox Hill Hospital and a member of the Republican, Union League, and Metropolitan clubs. In New Jersey, he was a member of the Sea View Golf Club, Rumson Country Club and Sea Bright Beach Club.

The Vietors sold the house at 99 Rumson Road in 1927. Henry Butler, the second owner, sold the house to Mary Riker in 1934. (Riker History) In 1949, Meador Wright of East Orange, publisher of Suburban Life, purchased the house from Mrs. Riker’s estate for investment purposes. In 1952 he divided the land into three parcels and the house into three pieces. In 1954, he sold the main house to James and Eleanor Fitzsimmons, who in turn sold it to Robert and Mary Skold in 1959. Lloyd and Sergie Christianson purchased the house from the Skolds in 1961. The Christiansons took full advantage of the size of their living room, placing a large organ, complete with chimes, and two grand pianos in the space. (Christianson History)

The Mulheren family, the current owners, have named the house “Sheep's Run.” They acquired the property from Lloyd Christianson’s estate in 2007, with the goal of preserving the house and the land from further development. For the same purpose, they had earlier purchased the Metcalf Estate, which faces the Vietor property across Rumson Road. That estate was the location of the first Stately Homes By-The-Sea Show House, sponsored by Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey in 2007.

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