To be perfectly honest, I went to Peachfield with low expectations. The house is only open a few times a year so how exciting could it be? After all, if it was very exciting, it would be open a lot more often, right?
I was pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed our visit.
Peachfield is owned by the Colonial Dames of New Jersey. The Colonial Dames is an organization similar to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), in that the ladies can trace their ancestry back to living in the Colonies during the Revolutionary War, however they might not have any family members who served in the war.
Peachfield was built in Westampton, NJ (near Burlington, NJ) in 1725 by the Burr Family. These Burrs are distant relatives to the more famous Burr, Aaron. A large addition was built in 1732. The home remained in the Burr Family for nearly 200 years. That alone is impressive. In 1928 the house was struck by lightning and suffered a major fire. Amazingly, the Burr family was able to sell the home to the Harker family in 1930. Mrs. Harker bequeathed it to the Colonial Dames three years before she died in 1965, with the stipulation that they maintain it and keep it open to the public.
Mrs. Harker had an amazing eye and a terrific vision for the house. She hired a famous historic architect by the name of R. Brognard Okie, Brog to his friends (I dare you to call anyone Brog without laughing or at least thinking about a frog). Brog's major claims to fame include restoring the Pennsbury Manor and the Betsy Ross House.
Like I said, it was 1930. Even though Mr. Harker was a foreclosure attorney (one of the few careers with job security during the Great Depression) this was an expensive and lengthy process. Mrs. Harker's vision for restoring the home was to bring it back to the original style. Looking at it today, you cannot tell what was added and what was original to the house.
Her secret? She used 18th century glass, moldings and woodwork as she did 20th century restoration.
Where did she find such a treasure trove of 200 year old building material? She asked for it from the current owners of 200 year old homes. Some of the homes were about to be destroyed as the New Jersey Turnpike was being built (including one owned by a different member of the Burr family). In at least one case she offered someone new windows for their old ones. It is pretty remarkable.
There are also some treasures to be found in the furnishings and decorations. The creepiest was part of their temporary exhibit on Washington -- a lock of the first President's hair. I kid you not! That exhibit is about to end and be replaced with an exhibit on needlework that should also be interesting.
Periodically the Dames have fun programs. We missed the one on "Brog" visiting. There was also another one with "Sojourner Truth." As you have probably already surmised from reading this blog, I am fascinated by first person re-enactors.
Our guide, Maureen, was terrific! It was her fourth tour of the day. In our tour group were a couple of women who are related to a different branch of the Burr family. They talked a lot about genealogy.
Ashley's favorite part was the back staircase that was not open to the public.
I liked the story behind the gorgeous upholstered chair that hid a chamber pot. As it was the second one we had seen in a week (the first was at the Wallace House) we were not as surprised as the others in our group. Legend has it "Washington sat in the chair," or some such wording. The original notes (when the chair was donated to the Colonial Dames) said he "used" the chair. The notes were later modified.
I'm glad Ashley and I made the effort to go.
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