Digging in and branching out

Over the past 28 years the owners of Pleasantdale Château have planted hundreds of new trees on the estate as part of their plans to further expand the number of native plant species throughout their woodlands and grounds.

The latest phase of planting is occurring throughout this year.

Work at Pleasantdale Château, which is known for wedding receptions, business functions, and social events, is being done to ensure the horticultural diversity is preserved on its surrounding historically-designated 40 acres of pristine woodlands, gardens, and meadows, according to a press release from Pleasantdale.

“After we completed the construction of our ‘Arboretum Conservatory’ last year, we immediately jumped into the next phase of our plans for extending the beautification and re-wilding of the surrounding landscape,” said owner Wade Knowles.

The new conservatory was the result of a five-year plan to convert an existing unused structure on the estate into an additional multi-use event space to host indoor
wedding ceremonies, public events, educational seminars, and more, the release said.

With the approval of the West Orange Historical Preservation Commission and in keeping with the period architecture of the château, the Knowles family ownership undertook an extensive project that included intricate traditional timber frame construction, adaptive reuse of existing materials, and the sourcing of many other natural materials that were hand-picked from Europe and beyond.

Surrounding the new conservatory are a combination of mature old-growth trees and newly-returned species that were known to have existed in the West Orange area centuries ago. The Knowles family’s tree-planting project extends beyond the immediate area of the conservatory, however, with new trees being added throughout the estate, the release said.

Included among the plantings are the addition of new apple trees to its farm, expanding its small orchard that also already includes pear, peach, plum, and persimmon trees. The farm on the estate dates as far back as 1835 and has been in continuous operation since the Knowles family took ownership the property in 1995.

Through its several fields and greenhouses, the estate’s farm and grounds staff harvest thousands of pounds of produce each year, as well as honey from its bee hives, that the château’s culinary staff then incorporate in meals for guests of the estate, the release said.

“Many of the trees that we’ve successfully transplanted started their lives as nuts and seeds that we’ve grown in our greenhouse and continued as saplings
in our farm fields,” said Knowles. “Tree conservation has personally been a life-long interest since being taught about the classification of tree species in my early teens.”

The farm is also used to propagate many of the flowering plants that are on display throughout the estate as well as inside of the château’s orangerie. This formal display greenhouse is also host to potted trees that produce calamondin oranges, ponderosa and Meyer lemons, as well as key limes.

In keeping with the learning/teaching aspect akin to an arboretum, Knowles has identified more than 60 different tree species on the estate, with many more still to be documented. He has marked in excess of a hundred trees thus far with placards that display for visitors the trees’ common names and their formal genus/species.

“We have some truly magnificent trees on the property that we’re often asked about, so this is a great way to help educate our guests about the wonderful diversity that we have here in northern New Jersey–and on our estate especially,” said Knowles. Furthering his holistic and local intentions for the project, Knowles has even employed the talents of the estate’s on-staff metalsmith to hand-make each sign-post that accompany the marked trees.

Included among the estate’s collection of flora are an over a century-old pair of rare Dutch elms, nine different varieties of magnolias including one grown from the seeds of a tree in the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, Italy, 10 species of oaks, a number of beautiful flowering redbuds, and countless others. Knowles’ efforts also included the restoration of the Northern spicebush and pawpaw, which were once plentiful in the region.

“Our goal is to re-introduce as many native species of trees back to the area as were once abundant when much of the Pleasantdale area of West Orange was forested—before it was even farmland,” Knowles asserted. “We started adding trees as far back as the 1990s when we first acquired the property, so it’s been a continual labor of love; but we’re proud of the ecological diversity that we have—nearly A to Z—from American Lindens to Walnut trees.”

Pleasantdale Château has a long and storied past. In 1912, Charles Walter Nichols, a renowned industrial leader in New York City, purchased a number of contiguous farms.

The farms and portions of the Château date to 1835. They became known as “Pleasantdale Farms” on which the Nichols established their new home to escape the rigors of city life.

Nichols, who frequently traveled to Europe for business and pleasure, developed a fondness for the Norman architecture of Northern France and Southern England and thus retained Augustus N. Allen, an architect renowned for his great homes and buildings on Long Island and in New York City.

Together, Nichols and Allen toured Europe seeking Norman-style buildings for inspiration that would shape the design of what is now Pleasantdale Château.

With the goal of having the expansive grounds visually support such a spectacular château, renowned landscape architect Augustus E. Furlong was tasked with incorporating pristine woodlands, multiple ponds with interconnecting streams, bridges, and meandering paths. Antique gazebos and formal gardens embellish the landscape and to this day are maintained by skilled tradesmen.

After Nichols’ death in 1959, the house was left to the board of directors of his company, Allied Signal, for use as an exclusive corporate training retreat.

In 1995, the Knowles family acquired the estate, ensuring that its elegance and rich history would remain intact. This local family of hospitality industry professionals also endeavored to expand upon the grand notion of the Château, updating it with deference to its history.

  Pleasantdale Chateau, trees, West Orange