The George W. Stillwell farm is established, spanning both sides of "Stone Road," now Broad Street.
A New Era Begins
A legendary estate,
still writing its story.
Dr. Ernest Fahnestock was born in New York City in January 1876, the son of the noted financier Harris C. Fahnestock. He received his pre-medical education at Harvard, studied medicine at Columbia and graduated in 1900 — a surgeon and a patron of varied medical and welfare organizations.
In 1908 he purchased the 115-acre George W. Stillwell farm in Shrewsbury, established in 1852 and spanning both sides of "Stone Road" — today's Broad Street. He named the property Shadow Brook Farm, turning a working crop farm into a gentleman's country estate.
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The Architecture
Georgian by design.
Grand by intention.
Dr. Fahnestock engaged partnered architects Lewis Colt Albro & Harrie T. Lindeberg to design a Georgian-style mansion along with the farm buildings, with construction completed in the summer of 1910. The 25-room main residence was a five-bay, hipped-roof Colonial Revival with segmental arches over the door and third-story dormers, wings on each side fronted by open piazzas. It was reported to have been built at a cost of more than $200,000.
The mansion sits some 1,000 feet back from the road, approached over a winding blue stone driveway lined with large maple trees. Landscape architects Pitkin & Weinrichter planned a carriage drive to sweep around the entire group of buildings in an irregular "U," leading from the public road and back again.
The Original Estate
By the numbers
25Rooms in the residence
180Acres by 1912
100+Varieties of roses
1,000Foot blue stone drive
Inside the House
Rooms, gardens
and gracious details
On the first floor of the main dwelling sat a large entrance hall, a beamed-ceiling oak paneled living room with a great fireplace, a tiled-floor gunroom, a dining room with fireplace, butler's pantry, kitchen, flower room, powder room and maid's dining room. The second floor held seven master bedrooms and six tiled baths — four bedrooms with fireplaces — with eight further bedrooms above.
At the rear of the dwelling stood a fountain and beautiful formal gardens. A rose garden, 100 feet square, carried over 100 varieties that bloomed from early spring until frost, alongside a formal English cutting garden designed with hardy plants and flowers.
The Family
Dr. Ernest & Georgette Fahnestock
He married Georgette (De Grove) Perry, a widow with two children, on February 15, 1905 in New York. Together they had two daughters, Mildred Helen and Evelyn.
Dr. Fahnestock's rise in medicine included chairmanship of the executive committee of Misericordia Hospital and positions at St. Vincent's and the Foundling Hospital in New York. He was a contributor and honorary member of the Shrewsbury Fire Company, served on the borough's zoning committee, endowed a medal for bravery for the New York Police Department, and supported Monmouth Memorial Hospital and the Red Bank First Aid & Rescue Squad. He is said to have invested well over $1,000,000 in developing the estate.
Dr. Ernest Fahnestock
Georgette Fahnestock
Timeline
A century on Broad Street
Dr. Ernest Fahnestock purchases the 115-acre farm from the Stillwell estate and names it Shadow Brook Farm.
Construction of the Georgian-style mansion is completed at a reported cost of more than $200,000.
An additional 65 acres is purchased from a neighboring farm at $425 per acre — 180 acres in all.
Five years after Dr. Fahnestock's death, Shadow Brook Farm sells for $25,000 to developer Ray H. Stillman, then to Frederick Thorngreen.
Shadow Brook Inn opens — a modern restaurant, hotel and night club, with a new private entrance drive.
Thorngreen sells to Rod Keller and Robert Downs, who rename the property Shadowbrook. The Oak Room is expanded with a wide expanse of windows over the gardens.
The Regency Room is added, giving Shadowbrook the ability to host two separate events at once.
The Zweben family takes ownership, continuing the tradition of fine dining — and in 1982 begins major renovations using authentic materials evoking the early 1900s.
Through the Years
Names that have
passed through these doors
It has been said that the guest list at Shadowbrook has included some of the most recognized figures of their era — welcomed into rooms furnished with brass handrails from the Paramount Theater in New York City, art deco chandeliers and wall sconces, and a honeycombed wood ceiling brought back from an English castle.
- Frank Sinatra
- Mick Jagger
- Bruce Springsteen
- Henry Mancini
- LeRoy Neiman
- Robert Kennedy
- Walter Mondale
From the Archive
Shadowbrook, then
The Estate Today
Classic elegance.
Contemporary refinement.
Visit Shadowbrook
See the estate in person
The grounds, the galleries, the Oak Room and the Regency Room are best understood standing inside them. Arrange a private tour and let us walk you through a century of the estate's story.
- Broad Street, Shrewsbury, New Jersey
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