On a Sunday night around 1940, the dining room at Kuser Farm Mansion on Newkirk Avenue stopped being a dining room. The table was folded and pushed aside, and the big oak chairs were set out in rows. Folding chairs filled the gaps, and pillows went up front for the children. Then the curtains opened on an 18-foot screen, with music and 20th Century Fox spotlights. Township historian Tom Glover told the story in a 2014 Princeton Info feature, which called the room "one of America's first home entertainment centers, dating back to 1919."
That room was set up for evening audiences, and it still sits at 390 Newkirk Avenue in Hamilton. In 2026, most of its public hours fell on weekend daytime tours. The one stretch of evening hours comes in December.
A Dining Room With a Second Job
The house was Fred Kuser's summer home. Hamilton Township calls it Queen Anne style and says it was built in 1892 on the last 22 acres of a 70-acre family estate. Glover's own research puts the family's move into the current house at 1896, on his Hamilton history blog. Either way, it's an 1890s house with more than 20 rooms.
The film connection is money. In Princeton Info's account, Anthony R. Kuser, uncle of Fred's son Fritz, lent William Fox $200,000 to start Fox Film Corporation in 1915. Fifteen or more Kusers became stockholders, and Fritz later worked in Fox's foreign department, which exported films. The township's own history of the house says the same: Fox Film, "later to merge with 20th Century," began with a $200,000 Kuser loan, and family members became major shareholders, which made the Kusers early financiers of William Fox's studio.
The theater grew with the equipment of each era:
- Within a few years of 1915: Fox features shown on silent projectors for family and friends on Sunday nights.
- 1932: Fritz and his brother Raymond installed two 35mm sound projectors.
- 1935: Fox merged with 20th Century, and the Sunday shows kept going.
- 1953 on: Films ran in CinemaScope on a curved screen at the end of the dining room, with the projectionists working from a room built just behind it.
- Mid-1970s: The Sunday movies ended.
According to Princeton Info, most of those Sunday films were shown before their public release. The township bought the property in 1976 with Green Acres support and has run the house as a museum since 1979. The family movie nights ended only a few years before the public tours began.
The Guest List Came From the Studio
Edna Kuser, Fritz's wife, wrote that the Sunday shows often drew 30 to 75 people. The guests she named read like a studio roster. Walter Hutchinson ran Fox Film's foreign department and showed "Cavalcade" at Buckingham Palace. Charles Einfield was a 20th Century Fox vice president. Earl I. Sponable developed CinemaScope, the format the Kusers' own screen later used. Jane Froman starred in the Ziegfeld Follies. Betty Bronson, a Trenton-born actress, played the lead in the 1924 "Peter Pan."
That's the room Hamilton owns today. The township's history lists the "Theatre in the Dining Room," with its "once state-of-the-art 18 foot curved Cinemascope screen," among the period rooms on the guided tour. The grounds hold more family history. Princeton Info lists a tennis court, a gazebo, a windmill, a small vineyard, and what's left of the hangar and runway Raymond Kuser used for his Waco biplane.
A Quiet Year for the Theater
The mansion's regular 2026 season ran on weekends from Saturday, April 18, through Saturday, October 3, open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The last walkthrough started at 2:15 p.m., per the township's Kuser Mansion FAQ. That season closed with tours and a Jersey Valley Model Railroad Club open house on October 3. A ghost hunt with New Jersey Paranormal followed on October 9. The township's printed 2026 calendar marks November with "No Kuser Mansion Tours."
The movie nights continue the family's custom on the same screen. The township says the films are free and shown "on the Kuser's original Cinemascope screen." It provides chairs and suggests bringing a cushion or lawn chair. Turnout varies. The September 26, 2025 showing of "Halloweentown" was listed as sold out. On March 6, 2026, a "Back to the Future" night was canceled. In the township calendar's words, it was "due to a lack of public interest." A "Mary Poppins" screening was on the calendar for September 25, 2026.
December Is the Longest Evening Run of 2026
December is the one stretch when the house keeps evening hours on a regular schedule. The township has posted 11 Christmas tour evenings, each listed from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.:
| Week | Tour evenings | Extra |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 4–6 | Friday, Saturday, Sunday | Santa visits the mansion Sunday, Dec. 6, 4:30–7:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 8–10 | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday | |
| Dec. 12–13 | Saturday, Sunday | |
| Dec. 15–17 | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday | Dec. 17 is the final Christmas tour |
The regular season was weekends only and closed at 4 p.m., so six of these evenings fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, after work hours.
One timing detail matters. The December 4 calendar listing gives event hours of 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. but says "the last walkthrough tour will start at 5:45 pm." Arrive early that night. For other evenings, admission questions, or reservations, the township's Historic Homes staff answers at 609-890-3630 or [email protected]. The 2026 Christmas listing doesn't post a price, so a quick call settles it before you bundle up the family.
The house holds one more December attraction. The basement is home to the Jersey Valley Model Railroad display, which the township says opens only for special events in October and December, or by appointment with the club. Last year The Trentonian reported that visitors toured the decorated mansion and saw the club's train display during Winter Wonderland.
Winter Wonderland Fills the Park on Opening Weekend
The tour run opens the same weekend as Hamilton's Winter Wonderland at Kuser Farm Park. The township's event FAQ sets it for Friday, December 4, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, December 5, from 2 to 7:30 p.m. The listed activities are:
- Family photos in front of the Christmas tree, and photos with Santa
- A wagon ride through the holiday light display
- The Mini Candy Land Express train ride
- Character meet-and-greets, firepits, and festive music
- Food and beverage vendors
- Mansion and model railroad tours
The tree lighting time hadn't been posted as of late October. The township says to check back. Anyone who mainly wants to see the theater, without the Winter Wonderland crowds, has nine more tour evenings, from Sunday, December 6, through Thursday, December 17.
Grounds For Sculpture Comes First, the Weekend After Thanksgiving
Hamilton's December starts a week early, on Sculptors Way. Grounds For Sculpture holds its indoor Holiday Artisan Market on Saturday, November 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, November 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Welcome Center and Museum Building. Market admission is included with a GFS ticket. GFS, at 80 Sculptors Way, requires timed tickets for entry.
Two exhibitions are on view the same weekend. Shantell Martin's "Past, Present, Future" opened September 20 in the West Gallery. It's an immersive installation with textiles, murals, an engagement space, and a commissioned outdoor sculpture, and it runs through July 23, 2028. The member exhibition "Then, Now, Next: 250 Years of Becoming" opens November 21 with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. and stays up through February 7, 2027.
That makes three weekends in a row: the artisan market November 28 and 29, Winter Wonderland December 4 and 5, and the mansion's last weekend tours December 12 and 13. The final Christmas tour runs Thursday, December 17.
At Hawleywood Homes Real Estate Team, we love a local story with a great cast, and this one has a curved CinemaScope screen and a Fox Film guest list. If you have questions about Hamilton Township, or want a team that knows its history as well as its homes, contact us.
