A History of the Farm

The property was most recently owned by the Scott family, who purchased it on December 13, 1977, from Herbert & Ruth Kent for $195,000 and it was acquired by the Borough in 2015. It was renamed the Cary Farm after the original owners, and dates to 1822. Jonathan Cary came to Mendham from Bridgewater, MA in 1745 (the Cary family traces its roots back to the 1630’s period of the Plymouth colony). Jonathan was a carpenter who came at the request of Ebenezer Byram to build the first Hilltop Presbyterian Church on the current location at 14 Hilltop Road. He then settled in the area to raise a family and operate a grist mill. His son Stephen was born on March 15, 1794. In 1822, Stephen purchased 59 acres of land on Mountainside Road to operate as a farm. He built the “Stephen Cary House”, a brick Federal style house, with a gambrel roof and side hall plan in the years 1822–1835 (the house was named to the National Historic Register in 1989). The Cary Farm property includes a well preserved classic red “banked barn”, a style of barn noted for its accessibility, at ground level, on two separate levels. This 1 ½ story four-bay banked barn is a well-preserved example of traditional construction, with a stone foundation and vertical frame siding. The central portion probably dates from the 1820’s, when Stephen Cary purchased the farm. The northern facade contains a pair of centrally placed two story sliding wooden doors; the western facade is blank except for a foundation level ventilator. The southern side is open at ground level, with an added projecting forebay, with an additional set of doors with hand wrought strap hinges and a single sliding door located at ground level on the eastern side. A small six light fixed window also appears on the eastern side level with the top of the stone foundation, and a pair of louvered shutters ventilates the gable end. Several other buildings on the property were built later but they still contribute to the historic significance of the farm. Although reduced from its original size, the farm still raised cattle, chickens, and turkeys until recently and is currently used to grow hay. It remains relatively unchanged from its probable nineteenth century appearance, although it is in the midst of a developed rural suburban area. This site is a “keystone property” in Mendham Borough’s Open Space Plan and it connects to other open space parcels already owned by the Borough as well as Morris County’s Patriots Path linear park. The barn is scheduled for restoration with grants from the Morris County Preservation Trust Fund.