The Beginning 

Our building and property were originally known as Thorne Oaks.  The estate is located on the former site of Brightstowe, the estate of Wheeler Hazard Peckham; the only remaining portion of Brightstowe is the basement’s interior south wall.  Designed by the renowned architectural firm of Delano and Aldrich, the mansion was built in a neo-Georgian style in 1912 by Mr. Willard V.S. Thorne (1865-1920) and Julia Therese Keyser) Thorne (1875-1937) for $400,000, a very pricey sum for that time.  He died in 1920, having lived there less than four years.

Photo credits and provided by Bob Scott

Mr. Thorne was an accomplished golfer and tennis player, appearing in the All-Comers doubles final of the U.S. National Championships in 1884.  He purportedly made his initial fortune by standardizing railroad equipment, then maintained the fortune through his railroad-oriented investments.  While this may be true, the official record indicates that he graduated from Yale and worked in the engineering department of Great Northern Railway.  He then became Vice President of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, Director of Purchasing for the Harriman railroads and a member of the boards of a dozen of the largest transportation companies.  In 1910, he founded the Hospital Bureau of Standards and Supplies in New York City. The Thorne family had a significant presence in the Central Trust Company of New York, which has since become J. P. Morgan Chase Bank.

There are three other mansions of the same era on our street.  Edgewood is across the street at 20 Normandy Heights Rd. Ellerslea, a neo-classical mansion built in 1909 by Charles Armour of the Armour Meat Packing Company, is a bit further down the street at 30 Normandy Heights Rd.  Finally, Valley View, the former mansion of Jesse Leeds Eddy, of the New York coal firm of Eddy & Dickson, is at 45 Normandy Heights Road.

The Later Years

The property was then owned by several people, including Thomas Symington (Symington Railroad Specialty Co.) in 1920, Jacques Bramhall in 1924, Elizabeth Wallace in 1930 and John T. Mascuch in 1937.  One source, Morristown’s Mansions, notes that in 1952 Mrs. Mascuch sold the building’s contents in a three-day auction.  A 1957 Daily Record article announcing our purchase of the property in 1957 noted the (then) current owner as Dr. Peter DeGregorio.  We do not know who may have given the ‘Gateways’ name to the mansion, though the name appears in early estate documentation.  

While a large portion of the estate was sold off through the years, the remaining tract consists of about 7 acres. The former tennis court is now our lower parking lot. The carriage house (now in private ownership) still stands southeast of the main building, along Columbia Road.  Evidence of the carriage path to the main house remained via a leveled pathway and two lines of tall trees rising from the carriage house up toward the main building (Figure 6).  For many years one could see, by a few remaining oak trees, the path to the rear of the building and from the south end of the current Meeting Room up toward the west corner of Normandy Heights Road. It was destroyed when the neighbor cleared all the trees from that area; only one original tree remains.

Unique features of the building and property include:

• Several original downspouts and ornate ‘scuppers’.  Four full sets remain along the center of the current front entrance. (Figure 7)
• Several fake interior doors, windows and closets.  This is a common feature in Georgian architecture that stresses balanced features in each room. (Figure 8)
• Ceiling moldings with a repeating pattern of bas-relief zodiac signs. (Figure 9)
• A ‘hidden’ directional compass atop the chandelier in the Great Hall. (Figure 10)
• A weather vane on the top roof parapet that once was connected to a statue in the Great Hall so that one could note the wind direction even while inside the mansion.  While the “Atlas” statue remains, the connecting rods are no longer functioning.
• Many casement storm windows are tucked inside the first floor’s walls.  While most have been stuck for several years, a recently freed panel in one room revealed stained glass.  Others appear to be regular glass or wood slats, though few have been revealed. (Figure 11 & 12)
• A photograph of the library as it appeared in the opulent days of Morristown’s “Millionaire’s Row” hangs above the fireplace in the library.  The wall sconces, mantel and other original furnishings existing today are shown in that photograph. (Figure 13)
• A ‘whispering wall’, built at the same time of the main building and located in the back of the property along Columbia Turnpike.  A person can stand at one end, whisper, and be heard perfectly by a person at the far end of the wall. (Figure 15)
• The wall also has an ‘echo point’. Following the construction of a matching red brick labyrinth in 2001, we discovered that affirmations spoken at the center of the labyrinth are amplified back to the speaker. 

Photographs of many of these features are provided on the following pages. 

In addition:

• Dr. DeGregorio appears to have purchased the building in 1955, intending to transform it into a resident clinic facility.  Unable to obtain approvals, he seems to have abandoned his plans, thus making it available for our purchase in 1957.
• The floor in the Terrace Room is not original – it was originally a parquet pattern. The existing floor was installed by the Fellowship.
• The building appears to have been built to be heated by gas.  What was thought to have been the coal delivery entrance has been judged by a historical architect to be much too small and there is no evidence of a room suitable for coal storage.
• Herbert and Elizabeth Wallace lived here from 1930-1937, raising two daughters – Emmeline and Elizabeth.  Mr. Guy Miller, the son of Emmeline Wallace Miller, and his wife Terry visited us earlier this month.  He  tells us the following:
  • Herbert Wallace was a customs attorney who had foreseen the stock market crash of 1929, divesting all stocks prior to the crash, and appears to have purchased Thorne Oaks shortly thereafter.  It’s not surprising that the deed was in Mrs. Wallace’s name, Mr. Miller relates, as many of their former stock certificates were in her name also.
  • Mr. Wallace secretly funded Bill Wilson’s efforts to create the organization that eventually became Alcoholics Anonymous.  This connection was explored in an episode of The History Detectives television show in February.  Because of Mr. Wallace’s membership in the Oxford Group, his social support efforts were never formally revealed or publicized.  It only became known following the discovery of a thank-you letter from Mr. Wilson to Mrs. Wallace following Mr. Wallace’s death in 1942.
  • The young daughters apparently both disliked their given names.  Emmeline went by the name of ‘Wally’; Elizabeth preferred people call her ‘Betty’.  ‘Wally’ was still living in 2014, though in an extended medical care facility. (See Figures 17 – 21.)

Plaques

We have two bronze plaques – one identifies our property as being listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the other one dedicates the labyrinth to Eleanor Kerr. 

Our building and its property are listed in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places, ID# 2178 (Thorne and Eddy Estates) and NR Reference #78001783.

The Wine Room

What do you think the most secure room in the entire building might be?  Did you know that the mansion had a wine room?!  Wooden racking covers one entire wall, and the massive door was hand-fabricated from one quarter inch plate steel and padlocked!  There must have been some pretty impressive vintages in residence! 

In 2024, the wooden racks were removed and the room was retrofitted to serve as the main power control room for the new addition.

The Irrigation Vault

The mansion had extensive gardens along the steps heading toward Columbia Road and the Whispering Wall; at the bottom of the steps were colonnades and a reflecting pool (see Figure 4). All of these needed water for their upkeep and operation. To meet that need, there was a very large underground vault that managed water supply from the water main on Columbia Road through a myriad of valves to the gardens, the pool, and the fountain. Built with brick, it was covered with a massive, locked metal lid. 

In 2024, the vault was removed to allow for the installation of additional storm water diversion and infiltration.

Changes and Growth

In the 1960s the front entrance was raised to allow wheelchair access, a new heating system was installed, and the Meeting Room (or Sanctuary) was added. 

A memorial garden was added in the early 1990s, in a style appropriate to the building and time period.

From 2020-2024 the upper parking lot was created, the old garage was demolished, new sewer and storm drainage systems (including a large detention pond) were installed, the roof was replaced, the third floor windows were replaced, the front oval driveway was rebuilt.

A new 9,000 sq. ft. Fellowship Hall was built in 2023-2024. This addition includes a new social hall, commercial kitchen, classrooms, and bathrooms. The water service line from Columbia Road was replaced with a new line from Normandy Heights Road, and new electrical service was installed. 

Historic Photos

Original photos by G. Aronson, S. Rice

Photos courtesy of Mr. Guy Miller (son of Emmeline ‘Wally’ Wallace Miller)