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| New Jersey Showcases
Its ‘Great Estates’ Trenton (March 30, 2004)—This spring and summer, New Jersey showcases its great estates, built by wealthy industrialists and financiers who amassed their fortunes in nearby New York and Philadelphia. During the mid 1800s, some of the most prominent figures in American history began migrating to New Jersey, attracted by rural areas from which they could carve vast estates, with easy access to the cities. “The fabulous wealth displayed in estates throughout the state is little known, but it’s time to change that, says Nancy Byrne, executive director, New Jersey Office of Travel & Tourism. “We have architectural and decorative masterpieces that we want visitors to discover.” These 19th century tycoons hired the period’s best architects and landscape designers, went on buying sprees to Europe for furnishings, while they lived and entertained in a lavish style that rivaled Newport. The mansions of the beer-brewing Ballantines, the industrialist Hewitts (of the Cooper-Hewitt family), the “silk king” Lambert, tobacco giant James Buchanan Duke and other prominent and wealthy businessmen now are museums, many listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Morven (Princeton), one of New Jersey’s oldest Georgian-style mansions and home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Glenmont (West Orange), home of inventor Thomas Edison, are currently undergoing restoration and slated to open in 2005. As you drive along New Jersey’s back roads, keep an eye open to the lavish private estates of such notable past residents as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, King Hassan II of Morocco (now owned by Richard Branson and slated to be a resort), John DeLorean (creator of the defunct car; now his estate is the Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster), financier James Brady, money manager Michael Price, candy bar magnate Jacqueline Badger Mars and publisher Malcolm Forbes. The following mansion museums are open to the public: Drumthwacket, Princeton, on the National Register of Historic Places and the official governor’s mansion since the late 1980s, was built in 1835 for Charles Smith Olden, a wealthy businessman who became governor of New Jersey in 1860. It most likely came from a design of architect Charles Steadman and reflected the popular Greek Revival style, signified by its large portico and six Ionic columns. In 1893, wealthy industrialist-banker Moses Taylor Pyne purchased the mansion and transformed it into an imposing estate surpassing anything in Princeton at the time. It included park-like landscaping, greenhouses, bridle paths and formal Italian gardens, none of which are now part of the current property. The last owner before it became the governor’s mansion was the founder of International Latex Corporation, Abram Nathaniel Spanel. In 1966, his heirs sold it to the state and in 1981, the New Jersey Historical Society became its curators.
Emlen Physick Estate, Cape May, is a fine example of the late 1800s trend toward highly personalized architecture of the Victorian and Arts & Crafts periods. The 18-room mansion was designed in 1879 by renowned Philadelphia architect Frank Furness in “stick style” for Dr. Emlen Physick, his widowed mother and his maiden aunt. Physick was descended from a wealthy and prominent medical family; his grandfather was known as the “father of American surgery.” The exterior of the house is distinguished by a grid-like pattern (sticks) of timbers, gigantic chimneys and hooded "jerkin-head" dormers. Inside are many original decorations and furnishings reflecting Furness’ style. The restored carriage house now is a Twinings Tearoom, offering light lunches and afternoon tea, and the Gallery Shop features tea and tea-related accessories.
Ringwood Manor, Ringwood, was actually a settlement in 1740, but the manor house as it is today was begun in 1807 by the Ryerson family in the Federal-style and added onto in Italianate and Gothic Revival styles by the Abram Hewitt family. The resulting eclectic mix, totaling 51 rooms, was the largest house in America until the late 1800s when Biltmore Estate was built in Asheville, NC. Kept much as it was when the Hewitt family sold it in the early 1900s, the house contains family books, furniture, clothing and various other items, providing a rare view of wealthy country lifestyles during the 19th century. The remarkable place has been featured on Home & Garden TV’s Summer Palaces and it’s said to be haunted by former occupants.
Skylands Manor, just south and across the road from Ringwood Manor, is the 117-acre former estate of Clarence Lewis, a civil engineer and stepson of William Salomon, founder of the New York banking house. The magnificent, Tudor-style stone mansion was designed by John Russell Pope (one of America’s foremost architects during the country’s turn-of-the-century “gilded age”) and built in 1924. Every detail is a work of art, from decorative copper downspouts, iron fixtures and stair railings to carved American oak paneling, plus stained- and leaded-glass windows. Lewis and his wife were enthusiastic amateur horticulturists, engaging the most prominent landscape architects of the day, Vitale and Geiffert, to create formal, Italianate gardens. For 30 years, they collected plants, resulting in one of the state’s finest collections. Purchased by the state in 1966, the 96 acres surrounding the manor house are now designated as the State Botanical Gardens.
Doris Duke Farms & Gardens, Hillsborough, is the estate of the late daughter of James Buchanan Duke, founder of the American Tobacco Company, benefactor of Duke University and one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs. At age 12, upon the death of her father, Doris inherited the 2,700-acre farm — landscaped by America’s foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead with man-made lakes, waterfalls allées and ornamental fountains. Dubbed by the press "the richest girl in the world," she set about creating 11 fabulous greenhouse gardens, representing English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian Indo-Persian, Colonial, Edwardian, American Desert and Tropical Jungles. In 1964, she opened her greenhouses to the public, remaining involved until her death.
Lambert Castle, Paterson, was the “trophy home” of Catholina Lambert, a poor Scottish immigrant who made a fortune in the silk mills of Paterson -- the “silk city of the new world.” He built his castle in 1892 high atop Garret Mountain out of sandstone quarried on the site. Construction took a year and cost nearly $500,000. Interior rooms, reflecting the eclectic styles of America’s “Gilded Age,” surround a three-story skylight atrium, where Lambert displayed his valuable paintings by Rembrandt, Renoir, Courbet, Monet and others. Declining fortunes forced him to sell off most of his art collection, but he managed to live in his castle until his death in 1923. His son sold the property to the city of Paterson, which in turn transferred title to Passaic County. In the late 1990s, the entire castle was transformed into a museum, managed by the Passaic County Historical Society. The first floor features restored period rooms, while the second and third showcase changing exhibitions and the basement level is a historical research library and archives.
Ballantine House, Newark, was the home of Newark’s celebrated beer-brewers, the Ballantine family. In 1885, Ballantine commissioned noted architect George Harney to design this 27-room late-Victorian style mansion, with eight bedrooms and three bathrooms. Now a National Historic Landmark, the restored house is part of the Newark Museum. Two floors are opulently appointed with furnishings and accessories. Embossed wallpaper resembling leather adorns the dining room, mahogany paneling and stained-glass windows (including one by Tiffany Studios) are throughout. On the first floor are a billiard room, parlor, reception room, library and dining room. Upstairs are a master bedroom, Mrs. Ballantine’s boudoir and Alice Ballantine’s bedroom. Other rooms are used as galleries to display home goods and accessories dating from the 1650s to the present.
Macculloch Hall, Morristown, is a 26-room Federal-style mansion, built between 1810 and 1819 for George Macculloch, remembered as the father of the Morris Canal. In 1949, Morristown millionaire W. Parsons Todd bought it as a showcase and museum for his personal collection of 18th and 19th century antiques. At his death in 1977, his foundation was endowed to ensure that the home would continue as a resource for history and the decorative arts. In addition to 10 period rooms, four galleries feature changing exhibits and one is dedicated to the works of Thomas Nast, one of America’s best known political cartoonists.
Liberty Hall, Union, sits majestically on 26 acres, pre-dates the American Revolution and boasts of two centuries of ownership by the prominent Livingston-Kean families. A great colonial plantation during the 18th century, it evolved into a Italianate-style Victorian country home of 50 rooms in the 19th century and remains thus today. The mansion’s collections relate to seven generations of family residence, portraying a virtual time line of furniture and furnishings, decorative and fine arts from the pre-Revolutionary era to the turn of the 20th century. Important 18th, 19th and 20th century collections of furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, paintings, prints, lighting devices, textiles, toys, memorabilia and books complement the lavishly furnished period rooms.
For further information and a 2004 New Jersey Travel Guide, contact the
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