Summer Vacation Rentals Planned for Sandy Hook National Recreation Area

Sandy Hook - Instead of a summer beach rental at LBI, Belmar or Spring Lake, how about staying at Sandy Hook?

Sandy Hook, part of Gateway National Recreation Area, has issued its first lease at Officers Row in the park.

Two local New Jersey men, Brian Samuelson and Joseph Dorsey, signed a lease to rent out Building 21, a historic 19th century mansion in the park that was once used as an Army officer's home.

Their plan is to renovate the three-story structure and turn it into a summer or year-round vacation rental, said Daphne Yun, a spokeswoman for Gateway National Recreation Area.

The mansion is part of Officers Row, a historic collection of Army officers' quarters built in 1895, and used when the U.S. Army's Fort Hancock was in operation at Sandy Hook. Officers Row overlooks Sandy Hook Bay, offering sweeping views of the sunset. It is just a short walk to Atlantic Ocean beaches and the many hiking, biking and nature trails of Sandy Hook. There is also direct ferry service to New York City.

Similar short-term vacation leasing is done in national parks in Cape Cod and the Presidio of San Francisco, Yun said.

“We hope to pave the way to save all of these magnificent structures out on Sandy Hook,” said Samuelson and Dorsey in a statement. “We hope to eventually make accommodations available for the general public for summer rentals. Our website Sandyhookrentals.com should be up soon.”

Samuelson and Dorsey signed a 60-year lease with the National Park Service, which Yun said she did not know the terms of. Many of the buildings along Officers Row are now in disrepair. The two men agreed to renovate Building 21 to historic standards mandated by the federal government, and the amount they spend on renovating the building will be taken off their yearly rent payments, she said.

And Building 21 is just the beginning: 34 other buildings along Officers Row are available for lease, and the park service is eager to see the historic structures renovated and used again. Anyone is welcome to submit a proposal to the National Park Service for how they plan to use a building, be it for full-time private residential, lodging (hotel/B&B), commercial or non-profit use.

"Gateway cannot afford to renovate the buildings on its own," said Yun. "In 2013, we opened it up to the public for bids."

At the time, suggestions poured in, ranging from turning the buildings into private homes, bed and breakfasts, art studios, restaurants, a sailing school and even a hospice.

Sandy Hook park staff used to live full-time in some of the houses on Officers Row, but that was before Sandy, when the entire area lost electricity, she said. But the National Park Service hopes to move back staff in there permanently once again.