Meadowburn Farm


The Meadowburn Farm is a historic farmstead located on Meadowburn Road in Vernon Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 9, 1993, for its significance in landscape architecture and literature. The flower gardens were first created by the author and gardener Helena [Rutherfurd Ely].

History and description

The farm dates to the 1750s when William Willet DeKay, son of Thomas DeKay, built a small house here, now part of the farmhouse. The DeKay family owned the property until 1853, when it was sold to Mary and Louisa Rutherfurd, daughters of U.S. Senator John Rutherfurd. They named the farm Meadowburn. After their deaths, their nephew John Rutherford, inherited the property. In 1881, the farmstead was given to his daughter Helena Rutherfurd Ely as a wedding present.