News:
Estate Map Shows
Mountain Colony at its peak

Beautiful Graphic Displays Estates of the Somerset Hill Mountain Colony with Amazing Detail

The rain couldn't dampen the spirits as guests, friends, and family gathered to enjoy the first public unveiling of Peapack resident John Charles Smith's Historic map of the Somerset Hills on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at the Jacobus Vanderveer house in Bedminster. The map he designed depicts the great estates of the Somerset Hills from 1898 to 1939.

Smith, a fan of local history and chair of the Peapack Gladstone Historic Preservation Commission, spent over 10 years on the project taking painstakingly time to make sure the map accurately reflects the estates at their most grandeous moment in history. "Houses were built as a demonstration of one’s wealth and creativity, noted Smith. "It's just amazing to see what happens when you overlay the property boarders as they stand today,"

A brief slide show and presentation on the history of some of the famous estates and the owners personalities opened the afternoon. John also offered personalized framed and autographed versions for those wanting to take home a piece of his work. "He's captured the history of the area in a fantastic way", noted one guest."It's truly a work of art." John certainly has been a big part of preserving history in the area as well. In addition to his family ties to the area, he is also a board member of the Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House and a member of The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills.

“I draw all day and I love it,” he said. “As a landscape architect, it’s in my blood.” Smith was inspired to begin the project around 1997 after his cousin, Barry Thomson, collaborated with Far Hills Realtor Jack Turpin on two books about Somerset Hills estates. He started looking at old maps, aerial photos and engineering plans kept by firms like Apgar Associates of Far Hills, and then overlaid them against modern tax maps. He sought additional information from current estate owners.

Left: Somerset County Freeholder Peter Palmer views some of the details of John Smith's estate map at the unveiling at the Jacobus Vanderveer house on Sunday, May 3, 2009.

The map took over 10 years to build. “I had to put it together piece by piece,” he said. “It was like a jigsaw puzzle – take one at a time and lay them out together.” Smith found that by 1920 or so, the estates occupied virtually 100 percent of the land on the Bernardsville Mountain.

Most of the land at the time consisted of small farms, he noted. He said land typically sold for only $2 an acre, so the wealthy newcomers had enough means to convince the farmers to sell.

Right: A view of the details of the map that also includes locations of the homes, as well as guest houses, barns, kennels and any other structure that was part of the estate at the time.

The largest home was the 50,000-square-foot mansion that Blair built at “Blairsden” between 1898 and 1901, Smith said. Still standing atop a wooded hill, it had spectacular views of a 550-acre estate that featured its own terraces, stairways, fountains, statues and a man-made lake.

For those who missed the event, viewing is available at his Far Hill office. Contact John at (908) 234-1121 or via email at jcsmith49@excite.com.

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Read the preview story that was posted in the Bernardsville News - Click Here

Submitted: May 4, 2009
Brooks Betz