Catching up ….
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Jane, Dad and I visited the newly restored Duke Estate, now called Duke Farms, in Hillsborough, New Jersey. “The mission of Duke Farms is to be a model of environmental stewardship in the 21st Century and inspire visitors to become informed stewards of the land.” (pamphlet)
We began with a ride on the tour tram, stopping along the way to take short walks along several of the trails and returning to the tram stop to continue our ride. It felt odd to ride a Tour Tram so close to home.
The history and the mystery of Doris Duke’s life wafted among the trees like ghosts. Dad repeatedly reminded us that it was smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco that had paid for the property, the buildings, the greenhouses, the gardens and the artificial waterfall.
During the sixties when the greenhouses were lush with tropical trees and plants of every kind I recall wanting to remain forever beneath a fragrant, flowering olive tree. The exotic plants were given away many years ago. The greenhouses are now used to propagate native plants for the estate landscaping and gardens as well as research, I believe.
Not all of the grounds and gardens have been restored.
Due to the expense of running the artificial waterfalls, they are only activated once or twice a day. We were too late. When we return we’ll test the food in the cafeteria, walk the longer trails and see the waterfalls in action.