Grab Bag

Historic Blairsden Estate – Mansion in May Opens to Public

May 2015 – The Grand Estate That Opened its Doors for a Cause

The Blairsden Estate in Peapack Gladstone, New Jersey, is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding examples of beaux-arts mansions in the United States. For a short thirty-day window, this private estate is open to the public as part of Mansion in May, which started back in 1974 with the Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center (WAMMC) and has raised over $8 million for worthwhile causes at Morristown Medical Center.

Historic Blairsden in Peapack Gladstone is open to the public from May 1 – 30, 2014. As one of America’s greatest estates, at over 62,000 square feet, many don’t know that the mountain was cropped by 15 feet to build the estate.

Blairsden, built in the late 1890’s was Over sixty designers have spent months preparing for the Mansion in May exhibit.

Charles Ledyard Blair in his 30s

Blairsden is the name of the Peapack, New Jersey estate named after its original owner C. Ledyard Blair, a prominent investment banker and ambitious entrepreneur who recognized the beauty of the beautiful Somerset Hills area and decided to build one of the largest estates ever built in the region.

At its time Blairsden was designed and built by Carrere and Hastings with state of the art technologies that actually still function today. Advanced heating and ductwork, water pumping systems, whole house intercoms, refridgeration, electricity, fire prevention systems are just a few of the advanced technologies.

The iconic Blairsden Estate in Peapack, New Jersey, is one of the best examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States. The Mr. Local History Project honors this estate and its grand history with a limited-edition wooden keepsake. Learn more on how to get one.
The iconic Blairsden Estate in Peapack, New Jersey, is one of the best examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States. The Mr. Local History Project honors this estate and its grand history with a limited-edition wooden keepsake.

The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills is a local history organization that has followed the history of Blairsden and states that Blairden is “the most searched history topic on their website.” Some of the best storytellers of Blairsden’s history are W. Barry Thomson and John Charles Smith are two residents directly involved with Blairsden over the years. Mr. Thomson was raised on the Blairsden.

NJ Country Homes Vol 1 by W. Barry Thomson and J. Turpin. Local libraries have both editions.

Estate’s lower property and noted that “I was often chased by the nuns while exploring the Blairsden property as a child.” The book “New Jersey Country Estates – The Somerset Hills  Vol 1 and 2, written by Barry Thomson and Jack Turpin, serves today as the best reference to the history of Blairsden.

John Smith, a former Trustee at the local historical society, has been involved with landscape architecture on the property for some of the previous owners. John, being a history buff, also created an early 1930s reconstruction of all of the estate properties in a beautiful period map.

A small cutout of John Charles Smith’s historical rendering of the Estates of the early 20th century in the Somerset Hills.

Mansion in May – Artists and Designers Profiles

Over 60 artists and designers participate in the 2014 Mansion in May. Each room covers two floors, and exterior spaces are used for the designers and artists to express their crafts using Blairsden as the backdrop. Listen to the experiences of two of the MIM participants below:

Artist Andrew Tedesco shows how he ties modern with a historic flare to decorate the entrance ceiling at Blairsden. As with all exhibits at the Mansion in May, if the owner decides they don’t want the decorations, they come down and are removed forever. See Andrew’s website for more stunning art examples at www.andrewtedesco.com
Abobe: Andrew’s Time lapse video of his Blairsden project
Above: Art Gallery owner James Yarosh of Holmdel, New Jersey, shows how he’s transformed the former private family Atrium of C. Ledyard Blair at Blairsden.
View from the Blairsden terrace looking south towards Pluckemin.

Lastly, I couldn’t resist the fact that while waiting for transportation to return to the parking area, several nuns were seen visiting Blairsden.  St. John the Baptist was once owners of Blairsden. While the internet has been a bit unkind to the nuns, portraying spooky stories of murder, death, and hauntings, nothing could be further from the truth. It never happened. That’s for sure.

Mansion in May 2014 opening at Blairsden. Even the former owners, the Nuns. Wanted to see Blairsden

A complete set of videos of the historic Blairsden estate is available on the Mr. Local History YouTube channel

More Mansions

Click around our Mr. Local History Interactive map of Mansions of the Somerset Hills (see our post below)

More Mr. Local History Mansion Posts

Mr. Local History Project

Recent Posts

That Great Stone Wall Around the Bernards Township Town Hall

Picnickers in 1916 in what was known as Owens Woods. Pictured are Dorthy Wing, Jane…

4 days ago

Bernards Township Origins

Bernards Township Asian Community Research Project seeks researchers to help with this important effort. UPDATE:…

4 days ago

Art and History – Looking for Artists To Interpret History to Celebrate NJ250

Joining the America 250 movement - Artists and New Jersey 250! UPDATE: We are looking…

4 days ago

Gotta Love the Irish in Jersey – The History and All the Parades

Quick History - Irish Immigration to New Jersey By the mid-19th century, Irish immigration from…

1 week ago

International Women’s Day Honors Trailblazers from the Somerset Hills in New Jersey

Honoring International Women's Day, we thought it would be an honor to research and share…

1 week ago

Retrospective: Newark’s McGovern’s Tavern- An Irish History Tale

Frank McGovern opened his tavern in 1936 selecting 58 New Street right in the central…

1 week ago

This website uses cookies.