In 1951 (same year Second Red Scare: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. On April 5 they are sentenced to receive the death penalty.), Patricia Terry sold the house to a Mr. Harry Howard and Maxine Garde Stout, who turned around and sold it to a Miss Emily Garde, for $1.00. We can assume that Emily was Maxine's mother. Emily had a long history with the house, selling it in 1972 (same year Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee. United States President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman were taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the F.B.I.'s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.), to a Mr. Ira M. Fine, but apparently acquired it back a short time later. During this time, The Pillars continued as a boarding house, with one, and sometimes two couples occupying each room, sharing the bathroom and kitchen facilities. We know that during the wild seventies, there were many parties on the porch roof and more than one police raid. Legendary parties were thrown where a few notable celebs of the time were known to have attended. The grandeur of The Pillars started to fade and it was on the brink of being lost forever. The entire neighborhood was now a hundred years old and rough around the edges, a far cry from its more stately beginnings. Concerned homeowners and others interested in historic preservation worked long and hard through the seventies, and they were rewarded with a National Historic District designation for the 152 properties in the region. The District was named in honor of Van Wyck Brooks, one of the better-known residents during the twenty-first century. Brooks was born in Plainfield on February 16, 1886. He spent his early years at 563 West 8th Street, a magnificent home built by his grandfather. After graduating from Harvard University in 1907, Brooks began his career as a prolific author, literary historian, and critic. In 1937, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for his book The Flowering of New England. Because of his love of history, it seemed fitting to name this Historic District in his honor.

In 1982, Emily Garde sold the house, this time to a Robert and Lynne Wiley. The Wiley's were here for only three years, but started to repair some of the damage that had been done during the boarding house years. They sold the house in 1985 to a John and Barbara Ostrander, who continued the process of restoration. However, the financial strain for restoring over a hundred years of wear was daunting. By the early 1990s the house was in foreclosure and in the hands of a bank. After much negotiating with the bank, Charles (Chuck) and Tom Hale bought the house with the goal of opening a bed & breakfast, the first in Plainfield and the first in this region of New Jersey. They bought the house in 1992, and they spent nearly two years restoring the porches and first floor rooms and renovating the unusable rooms on the third floor. By the time they opened The Pillars as a bed and breakfast in April of 1994, they were beyond broke. They were able to sell the house to Chuck's son, Ken Hale, in April of 1994, allowing it to continue as a B&B and gain recognition through the Internet. By April of 2001, Chuck and Tom Hale were able to purchase the house back from Ken and continue what had become a successful business. By 2005, Chuck and Tom decided it was time to retire as innkeepers, a second or third career for them. The husband and wife team of Lamont Blowe and Nancy Fiske purchased the house in early November of 2005, continuing to operate the house as The Pillars of Plainfield Bed & Breakfast Inn.