New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills chronicles the country estates that were built in the rolling countryside of Somerset and Morris counties in New Jersey. Volume I covers more than sixty houses that were constructed prior to World War I in Bernardsville, Mendham, Far Hills, Peapack-Gladstone and Bedminster.

For each book that is purchased online, we will donate one book to an educational program for either kids or the elderly! The Somerset Hills is a group of five beautiful towns in the northern section of Somerset County, New Jersey including Bedminster, Bernards Township, Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack & Gladstone. New Jersey is often referred to as the "Cockpit of the American Revolution" and many of these images tie back to the history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the great American Experience. We give great thanks for this project to Linda Arnold, a great friend of our local history and a artist that focuses on the beauty of the area. Also, a big thanks goes out to the Somerset Hills chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that shared their 1982 coloring book effort. It was with great pleasure and an honor to work on this collection of coloring images to allow our local young artists the opportunity to learn while they color. The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills (THSSH) will always welcome young artists to autograph and bring their artwork to the Brick Academy and show their creations.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Basking Ridge, Liberty Corner, and Lyons form the nucleus of Bernards Township, a region with a history as fascinating as it is long. Originally chartered in 1760 by King George II, the area figured prominently in the American Revolution: Lafayette's troops were quartered here; General Lee was arrested at Widow White's Tavern; and General Washington visited Lord Stirling's estate. After the Civil War tourism and other industries flourished, and the arrival of the railroad in 1872 brought further economic boom to the area.