One of the perks of being a home inspector is the beautiful and fascinating homes that I get to visit. Every month, I will highlight a different house.

I recently visited my home town of Short Hills. The purpose was for me to get pictures of the Robin Hood Cottage (RHC). Of all the slate roofs I have seen, the RHC is the most impressive and I wanted pictures of that roof in the new version of my home inspection manual.

Unannounced, I rang the bell. Someone appeared at the door but didn’t open it –certainly can’t blame him when there’s a strange 6’ 4” hulk at his door. I said through the little elf window, “My name is Gil Engler. I am a home inspector from Washington, D.C. My Uncle Arthur Engler built this house.” With that, bolts were thrown and the door was opened. The current owner, a Monroe Atkinson, a man in his seventies appeared and welcomed me. He certainly knew the name Engler. He knew that the lumber and millwork for the house came from Engler Millwork. He went on to explain that the vertical timber on the left side of the interior stairway was one to which George Washington allegedly once hitched his horse! A previous owner (only two others in the life of the house) told Mr. Atkinson that Walt Disney supposedly attended a party there in the 1930’s and that's when he may have conceived the design for Snow White’s cottage in the original animated film.


The architect was Benardt E. Müller about whom I could find nothing on the Internet. The slate on the roof is Vermont slate, I’m sure, because of the colors – greens, grays, purples and browns. The weight of the roofing is enormous – 25 tons according to Uncle Arthur or 40 tons according to Mr. Atkinson – either way that an awesome amount of weight for any roof system. All of the leaded glass windows are of different design. The weathervane is original and is of Robin Hood and his merry men. Hidden in the overgrown ivy is a reclining archer on the masonry wall holding a lamp at the entry gate. It's an amazing gem of a house!
--by G. Gilbert Engler, November 2005