At 88 Mountainside Road, a banked barn sits above open fields. A small storage building and two chicken coops stand nearby, and the farm connects to the trails around it. Stephen Cary built the barn around 1825. Restoration work began this fall.
The barn is one piece of a larger project. Mendham Borough has spent several years repairing a string of connected open spaces along Patriots' Path, using one grant at a time. That includes a pond, a trail, a footbridge, ball fields, a preserved farm and a brook-side park. Once the barn becomes a nature center, the chain will have a building at one end where visitors can stop, learn something and watch the fields.
Two Centuries, Three Owners, Five County Grants
Patch reported on October 2 that the Cary family owned the barn and land for generations. The Scott family owned the site from 1977 until 2015, and then the Borough bought it to preserve the land permanently as open space. Morris County's acquisition record lists the farmstead at 10.52 acres, set aside for passive recreation and for trail connections to nearby open space and Patriots' Path.
The funding came in over six years:
| Source | Year | What it covered | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund | 2020 onward | Five grants. The first paid for a historic preservation plan, and later grants in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026 paid for rehabilitation and stabilization | $914,644 combined |
| Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund | 2025 | Restoration | $434,845 |
| Total secured | $1,349,489 |
If you saw a smaller number earlier this year, that's because the Borough's 2026 recreation guide listed $904,589 in barn grants. The $1,349,489 total in the Patch report and on the Borough homepage is the current figure.
The plan calls for a three-season facility and nature center. It will include a viewing area where visitors can watch wildlife in the fields around the barn. The idea started with the Borough's Joint Environmental Commission, Open Space and Tree Commission, known as ECOSST. Patch reports that it has also been a priority for board President Eric Arena. Mayor James Kelly announced that construction had started. In the same Patch article, Kelly said: "We look forward to seeing this important piece of Mendham's history restored and reimagined for future generations."
No completion date has been announced.
The Barn Sits at the End of a Chain
The barn's location is a big part of why it matters. Morris County designated this land partly for its trail connections, and those connections lead to Borough open space you can already walk to. Using the Borough's own park pages and access points, the chain looks like this:
- Mountain Valley Park pond, 72 Mountain Avenue. The Borough describes the pond as connecting directly to Patriots' Path. The Morris County Park Commission lists its Mountain Avenue trailhead at 73 Mountain Avenue.
- Past two playgrounds and over a bridge to Pastime Fields. The Borough's Mountain Valley Park page describes this as the route the path follows.
- On to the Cary Farm Barn. For a 2022 walk at the farm, the Borough told visitors to park at the Pastime ball-field lot at the end of Valley Way and walk over to the barn.
- India Brook Park, 270 Mountainside Road. This is another Patriots' Path access point the Borough lists, on the same road as the barn.
The Borough also lists a fourth access point on Cold Hill Road, across from Mendham Commons off East Main Street.
Every Link Is Being Repaired on Its Own Grant
The barn is the most expensive project, but most of the other stops in that list have had their own work done in the past year or two. The Mayor's page and the 2026 recreation guide lay it out:
- Mountain Valley Park. The Department of Public Works refurbished and reopened the path-side bathrooms, which had been closed for more than 15 years. The crew also repaired the historic fire pit area and cleaned up the bridge crossing toward Pastime Field.
- Patriots' Path between Mountain Avenue and Ironia Road. Phase I repairs 2,353 linear feet of gravel trail and adds one regulatory sign. The Borough awarded the contract for $81,360 in February, and a $67,000 grant helps pay for it.
- India Brook Park. ECOSST and the DPW work with Hacklebarney Trout Unlimited to remove invasive plants and plant trees and native species to keep India Brook from eroding. Park benches and an information kiosk were added as Eagle Scout projects.
- Cary Farm Park. St. Joe's Youth Group, the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts have finished projects on the grounds.
- Borough Park and Arboretum. The Borough bought the land with a $220,000 grant. This year it is applying for a $390,000 grant to build an arboretum and trails.
The trail repair matters most to anyone walking the route. In January 2024, the Borough closed the stretch from the pond to Ironia Road after storm damage. The 2026 contract was written to fix that section, and it set substantial completion for April 15, 2026. The Mayor's page still describes Phase I as work that "will be completed this year." If you're planning to walk all the way to Ironia Road, call the Borough first to check whether that section is open.
Phoenix House on Hilltop Road is the same kind of story in the center of town. The interior was finished in 2025, and grants for the building total $1,497,990. Exterior work is underway now. A Borough notice dated October 20 asks visitors and staff to use the Hilltop Road side entrance while crews work on the front.
Walking It in November
The barn is an active construction site, so the Borough's 2022 parking directions are the most recent ones available. Those directions sent visitors to the Pastime ball-field lot at the end of Valley Way. They kept the small gravel lot at the barn on Mountainside Road for visitors with limited mobility. Those instructions were for a single event, so check with the Borough before heading to the barn itself. The pond at 72 Mountain Avenue, with its reopened bathrooms, works well as a starting point if you're unsure.
Several dates on the Borough's calendar fall close to this route between now and the end of December:
- Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to noon. The community Thanksgiving turkey and food drive takes place in the Mendham United Methodist Church parking lot at 10 E. Main Street, sponsored by the Mendham Area Faith Leaders.
- Saturday, November 21, 9 a.m. to noon. The Holiday Food Drive takes place at the Department of Public Works, with donations going to the Chester Mendham Food Pantry.
- Saturday, December 5, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At the Holly Trail, local businesses and service organizations offer treats and events, and Phoenix House hosts complimentary cookies and photos with Santa from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with reservations needed for photos. A community holiday concert takes place at the Mendham United Methodist Church, and the day ends with the tree lighting at the Borough Park gazebo.
- December 18. Entries are due for the Borough's holiday home decorating contest. Judging runs December 19 through 31, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Holly Trail will be held at both Phoenix House and Borough Park this year. Phoenix House is in the middle of its exterior restoration, and Borough Park is the land the Borough hopes to turn into an arboretum.
If you live near Mountainside Road or Mountain Avenue and want to know how the preserved land and trail connections around your home might matter to a future buyer, I'm happy to go over it with you, and there's no pressure to do anything with it. Megan Bonanno can start with a free home valuation that takes your setting into account along with the house itself.
