Frelinghuysen Arboretum
53 East Hanover Avenue
Morristown, NJ. 07962
(973) 326-7600
Open: Sunday-Saturday 8:00am-Sunset
Admission: Free
My review on TripAdvisor:
I had never been to the Frelinghuysen-Ballentine estate before and in the peak of the Spring and after all the rain we have had, the gardens were in full bloom. The gardens were broken down into different sections that surrounded the main mansion and the stables.
The entrance to Frelinghuysen Arboretum with the Home Demonstration Gardens
The gardens spread out along the edges of the estate. The main gardens sit between the mansion and the stables, which now serves as the Visitors Center. The lawns and the gardens are so beautifully maintained. Many of the flowers were in full bloom and it made a colorful display of Mother Nature.
The entrance to the gardens
The History of the Frelinghuysen Estate:
(from the Friends blog post)
George G. Frelinghuysen, a patent attorney and son of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Secretary of State under president Chester A. Arthur, was married in 1881 to Sara Ballantine of Newark. She was the granddaughter of the founder of the P. Ballantine Brewing Company.
In 1891 the couple commissioned the Boston architectural firm of Rotch & Tilden to construct a summer home and carriage house on property they named Whippany Farm for the river nearby. The Colonial Revival style is evident in such details as the Federal urns and swags, Ionic columns on the porte-cochere and the large Palladian window on the second floor landing.
The family only lived here during the summer months. In the winter they resided at 1 Sutton Place in New York City. The property was a working farm. Vegetables and flowers were grown for the family’s consumption and sent to them in New York City via train. There were greenhouses, several barns and some smaller houses on the property. Some servants lived on the property year around.
George Frelinghuysen died in 1936 and Sara Frelinghuysen died in 1940. This property was left to their only daughter, Matilda. Miss Frelinghuysen had an interest in gardening and was a member of the Garden Club of Morristown. In 1964, she began plans for turning the estate into an arboretum. Upon her death the land and house was bequeathed to the people of Morris County for the use as a public arboretum. The Frelinghuysen Arboretum was dedicated in 1971.
The Haggerty Education Center was opened in 1989. It contains a multi-purpose auditorium and two classrooms. Its purpose is to provide continuing horticultural educational programs for the public. It is also home for various regional plant societies.
The gardens in bloom in the Spring of 2025
The flowers on the beds in full bloom
The pathways around the gift shop and Education Center.
The statuary around the gardens
The flowers around the old stables area
The gardens around the old stables
Walking to the family mansion (which was closed for a wedding)
The Frelinghuysen Mansion
The mansion was closed for a wedding but I was able to walk around the front gardens and the extensive lawn. The clouds kept moving in and out of the sky but when the sun peaked out, the gardens showed off their beautiful colors.
The lawn in front of the mansion
Off to the side of the house between the old stables and the parking lot, there were a series of paths in a natural preserve garden just off the lawn.
The pathways through the garden
The pathways with landscaping
Walking along the pathways by the stables
The gardens just south of the house with a pathway into the woods
Walking the pathway into the woods. There was not much to see but it was cooler in the woods
After I had visited the mansion grounds and the gardens that surrounded the house (the mansion was closed for a private wedding), I walked through the parking lot to the gardens to the north of the house. This was the Marsh Meadow Garden.
The Marsh Meadow Garden was a catch bastion on the property and with this grows the reeds and water vegetation that makes up the garden.
All the rain had made these gardens very lush
The catch bastion was filled with reeds and flowers
The flowers by the parking lot were in full bloom
I walked all along the pathways admiring the flower beds
The garden tour just east of the mansion
Map of the Gardens of the Four Seasons
Just south of the main off the main lawn in front of the house are the Gardens of the Four Seasons, which is a pathway through a small landscaped woods.
Maybe this was a patch of the woods when the mansion was being built but it was like a natural preserve to just relax and walk around when the family lived here. I could this as a place of refuge after a long day at work just to unwind.
The pathways of the natural garden off the main lawn
The gardens just south of the mansion just off the main lawn
The reflective pool just off the paths
The gardens next to the mansion
The view of the mansion from the gardens south of the home
The end of the pathway through the gardens
It was a nice visit to the gardens and I will have to visit again when the mansion is open and visit the landscaped gardens behind the house.
Walking through the gardens is so relaxing and enjoyable on a sunny afternoon.
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