Cross Estate Gardens in Bernadsville, New Jersey, part of Morristown National Historical Park

Cross Estate Gardens is located within the New Jersey Brigade Encampment Area of Morristown National Historical Park at 61 Jockey Hollow Road in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The estate, which includes a 23-room stone mansion built in 1905 by John Bensel, is not related to the history of the American Revolution. The property was purchased in 1975 by the National Park Service simply to stop further real estate development of the encampment area.

John Bensel built the mansion, a five-story-tall stone water tower, a carriage house, and a gate house as part of a summer residence. None of the buildings are open to the public. The National Park Service uses them for offices and storage space.

After Bensel’s death in 1922, his wife rarely visited the property. In 1929 she sold it to W. Redmond Cross and his wife Julia. It is from this family that the estate takes its current name.

Bensel Mansion at Cross Estate Gardens in Bernadsville, New Jersey, part of Morristown National Historical Park

Stone water tower at Cross Estate Gardens in Bernadsville, New Jersey, part of Morristown National Historical Park

Julia was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and with the help of landscape architect Clarence Fowler, she revitalized and expanded the original gardens that were on the estate. Unfortunately, the gardens went into decline after her death in 1972. Upon the National Park Service’s acquisition of the property from her children, a local resident named Jean Pope began a volunteer project to restore the gardens. Today they are maintained by the New Jersey Historical Garden Foundation and include a formal perennial garden, a wisteria-covered pergola, a mountain laurel allée, a fern garden, a lawn garden, and a native plant garden.

Flowers on the pergola at Cross Estate Gardens in Bernadsville, New Jersey, part of Morristown National Historical Park

The gardens are open to visitors every day from 8 AM to dusk. Tours are given by a volunteer of the New Jersey Historical Garden Foundation on Wednesdays from mid-April through October. If interested, please make a reservation by sending an email to info@crossestategardens.org. There is no fee, though a $10 donation per person is suggested. Parking is free.

Shaded area under the pergola at Cross Estate Gardens in Bernadsville, New Jersey, part of Morristown National Historical Park

Cross Estate Gardens also hosts special events from time to time, such as plant sales. For more information, see the Cross Estate Gardens web page.

Cross Estate Gardens in Bernadsville, New Jersey, part of Morristown National Historical Park

For those wanting to hike to the New Jersey Brigade Encampment Site, Cross Estate Gardens offers one parking option (you can also park at the nearby New Jersey Audubon Society property). It is a 1.5-mile round trip hike from the gardens to the camp and back. For complete details, see the New Jersey Brigade Trail review here on National Park Planner.

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