Jack Turpin

Jack Turpin, 65,  died on Friday, May 21, 2010 following a brief illness. Born at Mitchel Air Force Base in Hempstead Plains, New York to William P. and Virginia K. Turpin, he moved to Mendham as a child and lived most of his adult life in Far Hills.  

Upon graduating from the University of Maryland, Mr. Turpin spent a brief period at the University of South Carolina Law School before enlisting in the army. Following his service at the United States Army Security Agency in Arlington, Virginia, he moved back to New Jersey and joined his mother in the family real estate business.  

Mr. Turpin’s passion and clear vision for Turpin Real Estate along with his keen business acumen soon lead to the expansion of the agency, which he grew into one of the premiere independent real estate firms in the region. Though he passed on the title of president to his son in 2009, he remained the chairman and broker-of-record at Turpin until his death. In all, he spent over three decades guiding the company safely and wisely through a variety of economic ups and downs.  

His love of the great estates of our area inspired Mr. Turpin to co-author, along with W. Barry Thomson, two volumes of “New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills”. These lavish coffee-table books chronicle the estates that were built in the rolling countryside of Somerset and Morris counties from the 1870s through the Great Depression and serve as a social, historical, and architectural journey through one of the country’s most prominent and private residential enclaves.  

For the ten years preceding his death, Mr. Turpin served as a Trustee of Blair Academy where he was chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee. In this capacity he was credited with acquiring a strategically significant tract of land from the neighboring Girl Scouts of America, a task that had eluded several of his predecessors.  

More recently he was elected to Borough Council in his hometown of Far Hills, a duty he was honored to have and cared deeply about.  

Above all, Jack Turpin was a loving husband, a thoughtful and generous father and a doting grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Margery D. Turpin, his brother William P. Turpin of Centreville, MD, his three daughters, Wendy Fryer of Highlands Ranch, CO, Terri Fraser of Tewksbury, NJ, and Barbara Howard of Nantucket, MA, his son, John D. Turpin of Far Hills, NJ and eight grandchildren.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mr. Turpin’s honor to Blair Academy, PO Box 600, Blairstown, NJ 07825.

The Sycamores in Morris Township is one of Morris County’s most-recognized estates, and is newly reduced to $2,395,000.  Set on three acres and built in the mid to early 1800s, it is among the few temple-form Greek Revival homes in the Harding and Morristown estate area. 

The Sycamores

This estate’s interesting history reaches back to the 19^th century.  It was thought to be built by John and Eliza Bonsall in about 1838, whose predecessors were the area’s first Methodists.  The family lived here with their six children for many years.  After John Bonsall died in 1852, Eliza expanded the farm by buying an adjacent 80 acres, thereby creating one of Morris County’s finest fruit farms.   From 1881 to 1898, the couple’s daughter, Anne Elizabeth, resided at the estate with her husband, Theodore Ayers, who served two terms as mayor of Morristown.  Charles Scribner II, founder of the famous publishing company, purchased the property in 1898 for his only daughter, Louise, as a wedding present. 

During the 20^th century, wings were added to the original columned part of the home.  In the 1950s, a small portion consisting of staff quarters and a kitchen were removed from the back of the home and moved next door, where it remains as a separate residence on the corner of Van Beuren and Spring Valley Roads. From the 1980s to the present day, careful renovations and updates have resulted in a home that exudes warmth, charm and character while still retaining its abiding sense of grandeur.

Generously-proportioned rooms are graced by magnificent wooden doors, classic tall windows and ten-foot ceilings on the first floor. A stunning two-story staircase set into a 34-foot entry hall leads to a second floor gallery and five bedrooms with four full bathrooms. Tastefully updated, the house is appropriately complemented by lush grounds, a tennis court and towering sycamore trees that give credence to its name. 

Morris Township is centrally located five minutes from the Morristown or Convent Station train stops for service to Manhattan, a short drive from The Mall at Short Hills, and less than ten minutes from Routes 287 and 24.

Fawn Hill Farm, Home of this Year's Mansion in May

Sponsored by the Women’s Association of Morristown Memorial Hospital, this event is a major fundraiser organized by hundreds of volunteers.  Interior spaces have been transformed by over 35 New Jersey-based design firms, art galleries, carpenters and contractors in the main home and cottage.  There are also 17 designated outdoor spaces that have been cleverly upgraded by landscape architects, pool service companies and garden designers from a select group of enterprises in the Garden State.

Tours of the 21-room Fawn Hill Farm will feature a close-up view of some of the more unusual design elements in the main home, such as seven fireplaces with ornate mantelpieces, distinctive millwork, a grand entrance foyer, and one of the home’s biggest surprises: a full-sized bowling alley on the lower level.

Creative themes for the different interior spaces make every room sparkle with personality.  In the master bedroom, Grace Kelly’s inimitable style is displayed in “An American-Born Royal” by Interior Decisions of Florham Park.  A lady’s dressing room is titled “In a Gilded Cage” by Olcott Square Interiors in Bernardsville.

A bedroom in the guest cottage was interpreted as a baby’s room in “Mother Goose Reconsidered: A Nursery for the Eco Baby,” a project of WESketch Architecture and Interiors of Millington and Reconsider of Morristown.  Even the upstairs hallway of the guest cottage has been redesigned as a “Passage to Hollywood” by the Chester firm of Maria K. Bevill Interior Design.

Admission to this yearly event is $30 or $25 for senior citizens.  Fawn Hill Farm is open from 10am to 3pm Monday through Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday.  For more information about Mansion in May, visit the Mansion in May homepage.