Skylands (estate) facts for kids
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Skylands
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Skylands manor
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 Location in Passaic County, New Jersey
Location in New Jersey
Location in the United States
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| Location | Ringwood State Park, Ringwood, New Jersey |
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| Area | 96 acres (39 ha) |
| Built | 1922 |
| Architect | John Russell Pope |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 90001438 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | September 28, 1990 |
Skylands is a huge property, about 1,119 acres (4.5 square kilometers), located inside Ringwood State Park in Ringwood, New Jersey. This amazing place includes the historic Skylands Manor mansion, The Castle at Skylands Manor, and the New Jersey Botanical Garden. The botanical garden is 96 acres (about 390,000 square meters) and is open to everyone all year round.
Skylands is nestled within the Ramapo Mountains. A group called the Skyland Association helps take care of it. You might also hear it called the New Jersey State Botanical Garden at Skylands.
The main house and its beautiful gardens were built in the 1920s. A man named Clarence MacKenzie Lewis, who worked as a stockbroker (someone who buys and sells stocks for others) and civil engineer in New York City, owned the property. He hired a famous architect named John Russell Pope to design the manor house.
The house has 44 rooms and is built in the Tudor revival style. This means it looks like an old English mansion, with special rectangular, bay, and oriel windows. Long ago, there was even a nine-hole golf course on the property!
Skylands was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 1990. This means it's recognized as an important historical site because of its unique architecture and beautiful landscape design.
The Gardens at Skylands
In 1966, the State of New Jersey bought the entire Skylands property. They wanted to create a State Botanical Garden for everyone to enjoy. The gardens have many different sections, each with its own special plants.
Some of the cool garden areas include:
- The Lilac Garden, filled with beautiful lilac flowers.
- The Magnolia Walk, where you can see many magnolia trees.
- The Wild Flower Garden, home to native wildflowers.
- The Crab Apple Vista, a lovely area with crab apple trees.
- The Perennial Garden, which has plants that come back year after year.
The whole park area, including the gardens, is now over 4,000 acres (16 square kilometers).
The Winter Garden section once had New Jersey's largest Jeffery pine tree. On its east side, you can find a weeping beech tree next to a very old upright beech. There's also a Japanese umbrella pine. Other interesting trees from different parts of the world include an Algerian fir (a type of Fir tree) and an Atlas cedar (a type of Cedar tree).
Images for kids
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The State Botanical Garden at Skylands
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Fall view of the garden
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An Outbuilding at Skylands Manor
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Lake Sheperd leisure area
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Eagle by Adolph Alexander Weinman from Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963), now at Skylands
