A Day at Duke Farms
It’s not called the Garden State for nothing.
Smack dab in the middle of New Jersey, on the Raritan River, lies Duke Farms.
The former home of James Buchanan Duke, and then his daughter Doris Duke, who left the 2,700 acre estate to the people as well as to be a place for conservation research. (That pic above – it’s the old horse barn)!
J.B. Duke loved water and there is a pond, reservoir, waterfall, or lake around every bend.
One of my favorite flowers – orchids – are displayed in the conservatory.
Each path leads to an even more beautiful building …
or spectacular view.
When you’re a billionaire, you’re entitled to change your mind about where you’re going to put your house.
Here lies the old stone foundation where Duke planned on putting his mansion before he decided to build it elsewhere on the property.
Across from a small pond sits the Duke mansion which I only caught a glimpse from afar since it’s not open to the public.
A fabulous day in the country (minus the tick I found crawling on my hand when I got home)!
Meandering around Duke Farms is a great way to spend the day. Walk, bike (bring your own or use one of theirs) or jump on a tram when your feet start to ache.
Best part – it’s Free (which frees up my money to use on the NJ boardwalk trying to win one of those giant stuffed bananas)!
I get around – check out all of my outings here.
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Savvy Southern Style
Never been here so I appreciate the mini-tour Kelly! Have a wonderful day!
The Duke gardens are something to see for sure. Love the greenhouse!
Cynthia
Yowzer! That gives a whole new meaning to the word “farm”. Trust me, our horse barn looks nothing like that! What a lovely place! ( We don’t even have horses, but if we did, they wouldn’t live in that kind of luxury!)
I would love to tour Duke Farms!…I live just “around the corner” from Duke University and one of my favorite gardens is the Duke Gardens….it is phenomenal…!…The conservatory looks beautiful and love orchids too!!…
Thanks for presenting this Kelly…I have placed this in my “must see” folder!!
I love seeing this hidden gems on peoplel’s blogs! I would have never known about this! Wow, what a gorgeous place to visit. I could almost smell the flowers and greenery!
Thanks for a great post on our beautiful state Kelly. And for giving me a great idea for a daytrip!
xoxo,
Kim
Kelly, thank you for the tour! The horses lived better than most people! What a beautiful place!
Peace,
Linda at The French Hens Nest
So pretty! I am so glad I stopped by. I am hosting a giveaway via Arcadian Home on my blog. It would be great if you could stop by. Have a lovely day!
What a wonderful place! We just moved to Trenton, to a new farm. It’s only an hour’s drive from Duke’s farm. This place will certainly get onto the list of must-visit places. Thank you for sharing.