Located on the Rowan University campus, Hollybush was constructed in 1849 for Thomas Whitney, the wealthy owner of a nearby glassworks. The house is notable for its Italianate Villa architecture, and its national significance as the site of the 1967 summit meeting between President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin during the height of the Cold War. A preliminary paint and finish analysis of six first floor rooms discovered evidence of trompe l’oeil murals, the only known extant examples in South Jersey of this decorative interior treatment.

The planning grant helped fund comprehensive paint and finish analysis of the first floor rooms. The capital grant helped fund a $2.4 million program to restore and rehabilitate this under-utilized building for use as a museum, meeting, and office space as well as a glass-learning center. Grant money will also restore the nineteenth-century mural and original finishes in six first floor rooms.

For more information, visit: http://www.rowan.edu/hollybush/photoGallery.html