Peachfield - Mount Holly, NJ
N 40° 02.091 W 074° 48.126
18T E 516884 N 4431643
Peachfield is located in Westampton, New Jersey. The house was built in 1725 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 19, 1973.
Waymark Code: WMBZRT
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/08/2011
Views: 5
Today the house is owned by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of New Jersey and is operated as a historic house museum that is open for special events and by appointment. The house is also the historical society's headquarters.
In 1674, John Skene, a Quaker from Scotland, bought 300 acres of land in the second tenth of the Province of West Jersey and named the property "Peachfield."
Henry Burr purchased the property from Skene's widow in 1695. He and his wife built the east portion of the house, made with South Jersey bog ironstone, on the present site in 1725. Their son, John Burr and his wife, Kaziah, built the west part of the house in 1732.
The date stones can be seen on the front of the house. The property remained in the Burr family for 200 years.
Following a devastating fire in 1928, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Harker purchased the house and engaged the architect R. B. Okie to restore the residence to a lovely country home.
Upon her death in 1965, Mrs. Harker bequeathed the property to The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of New Jersey to be used as its State Headquarters.
I took a tour of this house with my kids (Adult $5, Kids $3). The house/museum is an excellent example of Colonial life and a Colonial house. The inside had to be redone as a result of the fire but one could never tell it was rebuilt, it is so authentic! The outside remains as it was in the 18th century. Some stones had to be replaced but the original stones were used if I understood correctly.
Our tour guide, Maureen O'Connor is a member of the The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America. I called her and she accommodated me on the same day. She was very nice and terrific with the kids. She had this scavenger hunt she gave to my son which kept he and his sister preoccupied with the tour of the museum. Pictures of the inside are allowed but turn of the flash.