A Home at the Heart of Greenwood

Following World War II and the death of Joseph P. Day, his Short Hills estate, Pleasant Days, entered a period of decline under absentee ownership. Once a grand expression of an earlier era, the property was placed on the market and, in 1949, acquired by Peter J. Blanchard, Jr., an attorney for IBM. Seven days after this purchase, Peter married Dr. Adelaide Childs Frick, a pediatrician at New York Hospital. Though both worked in Manhattan, the Blanchards were drawn to the rural character of the property and miles of bridle paths in the adjoining South Mountain Reservation.

Between February and May 1950, New York City architect Lewis S. Weeks prepared plans and elevations for a new brick residence in the Colonial Revival style to be built on the foundations of the Day mansion. Weeks also developed design details for the interiors, including detailed paneling and trim work. But by August, Peter had engaged architect D. Wentworth Wright, AIA, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and his associate, William G. Halsey III, to carry the project forward. With his plans discreetly captioned “Residence for Mr. X” for anonymity, Peter obtained a demolition permit and soon after, construction began.

Comfortably scaled and classically symmetrical, the home featured graceful, curving arcades inspired by Mount Vernon that connected the main building to the East and West Pavilions.

Inside, wood-paneled reception rooms and Zuber’s scenic wallpaper, “Les Vues de Suisse,” gave the house its distinctive character. A collection of English and American antiques also graced the home, including eighteenth-century side tables and highboys as well as numerous portraits and objects associated with the Frick family, a variety of which remain today.

The Blanchards named their Short Hills estate “The Greenwoods,” a reference to the country residence of Peter’s ancestors. While the property had entered a new architectural chapter, Peter and Adelaide continued the Days’ tradition of country living, gracious entertaining, and a close relationship between home and horticulture. In 1976, Peter Blanchard even welcomed members of the Garden Club of America to The Greenwoods for tea.

In 2003, Peter and Adelaide’s son, Peter P. Blanchard III, and his wife, Sofia, established Greenwood Gardens as a non-profit conservation organization, beginning another chapter in the property’s history. Today, Greenwood Gardens preserves this architectural legacy while advancing its commitment to conservation and responsible stewardship.

Notes from the Garden is written by Barbara Storms, Marketing and Communications Manager at Greenwood.