Built around 1835 in the Greek Revival style, the house incorporates parts of a late 18th-century home. John D. Ackerman was a miller, and his son, David I., was a blacksmith who built a trip hammer forge on the Saddle River opposite the house. His grandson, David Ackerman Pell, was sheriff and surrogate in the late 1800s. David Ackerman Pell, 2nd, inherited the property and was mayor of Saddle River for many years.