Today’s Wall Street Journal has a great piece by Jane Garney on Duke Farms, the 2,740 acre estate of Doris Duke, the American Tobacco heiress, and her father, James Buchanan Duke. In the name of eco-friendliness, the great parts of the farm will be ripped up, including a classic conservatory.
The Hillsborough, N.J. property is maintained by the Doris Duke Foundation, which is planning the destruction of the, believe it or not …. plants!
The effort to save the farm is being led by Candida Frith-Macdonald and Petra Petra Ross-Macdonald. The latter is a Sierra club member and “PhD biologist who should be busy planting another 25 trees in her yard at this time of year.”
She doesn’t support the decision to dismantle the cultural legacy they are entrusted to protect, instead of using it as an example of carbon-neutral options for heating/cooling.
Above, a photo of the conservatory.
