New Vernon -- Holly Hill Farms

The home of Walter T. Margetts, Jr., and Josephine S. Margetts, Holly Hill Farms' gardens dated to 1926, when the property was owned by Henry Colgate. Following the Margetts' acquisition of the property in 1954, extensive plantings of hollies (25 varieties) and other trees and shrubs, including cotoneaster, were undertaken. Garden features included a vine-covered pergola and seasonal borders of bulbs and perennials. The 78-acre site also housed a nursery, a Christmas tree plantation, and grassland and pasture for two horses, whose manure was used in the gardens, including the vegetable garden. An environmentalist, Josephine Margetts was a graduate of the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women and served several terms in the New Jersey State Assembly, where she sponsored New Jersey's first wetland protection legislation.

Persons associated with the garden include Josephine S. Margetts and Walter T. Margetts, Jr. (former owners, 1954-1989) and Henry Colgate (former owner, ca. 1926).