Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • January 12, 2011 Area On Jan. 15, area residents are invited to join Skylands Head Landscape Gardener Rich Flynn for “Landscape Design at Skylands: A Historical Perspective.” The program will begin at 10 a.m. at the Carriage House at Skylands, the New Jersey State Botanical Garden in Ringwood. Skylands is a unique botanical and architectural gem, a former country estate featuring elegantly landscaped grounds, historical buildings, and a vast collection of unusual plant species from around the world. Skylands is also home to New Jersey’s only State Botanical Garden. All are welcome to attend Flynn’s presentation. A $3 donation is requested. In 1922, Clarence McKenzie Lewis, an investment banker and trustee of the New York Botanical Garden, purchased the property from the estate of Francis Lynde Stetson, who founded Skylands in 1891. Over the next 30 years, Lewis built the existing Tudor-style 45-room manor house and transformed Skylands into a botanical showplace. Italian landscape designer Ferruccio Vitale (1875-1933), who developed his reputation through important civic commissions such as the National Mall and the National Gallery of Art, created the country-estate landscape of Skylands. Most of the trees now framing the house were planted by Lewis and his crew of over 60 gardeners (in peak seasons), including the magnificent copper beeches. Wanting to appeal to all of the senses, Lewis stressed symmetry, color, texture, form, and fragrance in his gardens. The New Jersey State Botanical Garden, located on the central 96 acres of this 1,100-acre former country estate, is a distinctive botanical and architectural destination in its ‘Landscape Design at Skylands’ to be presented The first Manor House at the Botanical Garden was a gaslight-era mansion built by Francis Stetson as part of an extensive gentleman’s farm. At the time, sheep grazed on the lawn. own right. Purchased in 1966 as New Jersey’s first “Green Acres” acquisition, NJBG features elegantly landscaped grounds containing many of the original garden designs, historical buildings, extensive statuary, and vast collection of plant species. The centerpiece of the property is Skylands Manor, a Tudor Revival mansion constructed for Lewis in the early 20th century by renowned architect John Russell Pope. Pope also designed many outstanding private residences and public buildings, including the Jefferson Memorial and National Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C. Other distinguished contributors to Skylands included decorative metal designer and craftsman Samuel Yellin (1885-1940), who led the American revival of the use of iron as decorative art. Yellin fashioned the lanterns, electrical fixtures, lamps, spiral staircase rail, and gate of the manor house. Since 1976, The NJBG/Skylands Association, an incorporated, member-supported nonprofit organization of volunteers, has worked with the state to preserve and protect NJBG/Skylands and its historical structures. The New Jersey State Botanical Garden at Skylands, which appears on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places, is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day of the year. Admission to the garden is always free, with a small state parking charge on summer weekends only. NJBG/Skylands is located off Morris Road in Ringwood. For an event schedule, membership brochure, directions or more information, call (973) 962-9534 or visit www.njbg.org. Break the Highway Trend! ...not your community’s back. Local businesses are the backbone of your community and the trend to shop the big guys on the highway hurts us all.Your local businesses have what you want... at the right price... and close to home. So, why hassle with the highways? Save Time! Save Gas! Save Money! SAVE YOUR COMMUNITY! We Need You SHOP LOCALLY. IT’S SMART. ...and besides, it’s so convenient!