The J.W. Gandy Farmstead
26 Tyler Road
Greenfield, NJ 08250
(609) 390-5656
https://theclio.com/entry/100872
Click to access Upper-Twp-History_2-page_Sep2013.pdf
Click to access gandy-house-history_copy_%2015June2008.pdf
Open: Sunday 1:00pm-3:00pm (Seasonal and Special Events
Admission: Free but donations accepted
My review on TripAdvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/mediabatch/13884120?m=19905
The J. W. Gandy House at 26 Tyler Road
The historic marker
The historic signs
The Gandy House sign
The farm grounds
The historic sign
The historic grounds of the property in the winter
I visited the John Westley Gandy Farmstead on private walking tours both in the Winter of 2024 and the Summer of 2025 and got a glimpse of farm life in early rural Southern New Jersey. Away from the markets of New York City, I got to see how tenant farming and life was for early farmers after the Revolutionary War.
The house is decorated with artifacts from the early 1800’s to the turn of the Twentieth century and how they affected the lives of early inhabitants of the house. There is antique furniture, home made quilts and a fully stocked kitchen with a wood burning fireplace to cook meals from scratch (which was not a trend in those days, that is how they lived).
The grounds when I visited in the summer months
The grounds of the farm in the winter
The grounds of this historic homestead in the winter
When a returned for the private tour in the summer, it was a different story. The grounds were lush and in full bloom. It was really interesting to see how the farmstead was in the different seasons.
The same grounds in the summer
The history of the house
The front of the house during the summer
When you walk inside the Gandy Housr on the first floor, you are welcomed into the kitchen and pantry area plus some of public areas of the house. Here meals were prepared and guests were greeted.
The pantry area of the kitchen
Wood was stored for heat and cooking and herbs were drying for the winter months for cooking and daily use.
The fire wood and herb s drying
The pantry and larders for daily cooking and baking for the daily meals. All meals were cooked from scratch and large breakfasts and lunches were part of farm life. All meals were cooked in the open hearth so meals had to be properly timed and cooking and baking had to be coordinated for the family meals.
The larders were filled with the items that were in season
Cooking over a wood burning fire was part of everyday meals in the farm kitchen. Various pots and pans were in use to cook the family meals.
The inside of the kitchen area that heated the main room
Meals were coordinated for the day with cereals and soups cooking first, baked items going into the oven when it was warm enough followed by roasts and stews.
The days cooking over a hot stove
There were early morning breakfasts on the farm and then a late lunch/ early supper when the afternoon work was done.
The other half of the main room was used for dining and the families social space. Here meals were served and the family relaxed.
Everyday family objects of the household
The front part of the room faced the road and the comings and goings of the surrounding community.
The side bench and family objects
The most interesting part of the tour of the first floor is the view of the construction of the home. Behind the glass frame showed how the home was built and of what.
The construction of the home behind the glass frame
The family quarters on the second floor show the chores that followed during the day with spinning yarn, making and mending clothes and dying fabrics.
The spinning wheels and the making of quilts
The landing and the first floor rooms
The spinning wheels and patterns
The first bedroom was furnished with handmade quilts and sown linens. The wash basins were used before indoor plumbing.
The first bedroom upstairs
The wash basin and grooming products
Going out for a formal evening
The second bedroom on the second floor has is collection of quilts
The hand made quilts in the second bedroom
The children’s toys
The handmade quilt collection in the one bedroom
Handmade linens were part of the fabric of rural life as women were trained to sew and quilt their clothes and bed linens. Store bought linens were a rarity at this time and the quality of a woman’s homemaking skills defined her household. The handwork on these quilts were amazing.
The upstairs fireplace to keep the rooms warm
The upstairs alcove where the fireplace is located
The Morning clothing in the alcove
We then headed up the stairs to see the attic which were hard to walk up they were such small stairs.
The narrow stair’s to the attic
I got to see the attic area which visitors normally don’s see. This is where the boys of the family would sleep in the summarrr
The attic loft area
We finished the house tour back in the kitchen-living room
The full kitchen and living room room
The laundry area just off the main room
The we then toured the grounds of the estate walking through the grounds and exploring all the buildings on the property, some original to the estate and some brought here from other properties that awaited the wrecking ball. The grounds included the family well, barn, outhouse, root cellar, wood shed and a grape arbor.
The area right behind the main
The estate well which was going to be replaced
Fresh well water is still a part of the communities in Southern New Jersey. These farmsteads were pretty much self-sufficient and people grew what they needed and could barter for the rest or bring it to market.
The woodshed on the estate
The estate on a sunny day
The root cellar
The Root Cellar was used to keep Summer foods and preserves cool throughout the season. People tried to eat seasonally as much as possible and store for the Winter months.
The Ice House
The historic sign for the Ice House
The inside of the ice house and the hooks to hold meats
Ice was brought in from local lakes and ponds to keep foods well preserved during the warmer months of the Spring and Summer.
The barn that was moved here
The inside of the barn with all sorts of historic farm. These are pieces of equipment that were used over the last 100 years.
The farm equipment
The equipment that runs a farm
The storage area of the farm
The storage bins
The Outhouse
There was no indoor plumbing in those days and the use of the outhouse was placed far from the main house.
The grounds of the farm
The back of the farm
The front of the homestead in the summer of 2025
The house was warm and contained by fireplaces in the Winter months and open and airy in the Summer months with a flow of air through the open windows. The Upper Cape May Township Historical Society is open also for special events like their Strawberry and Apple festivals plus private tours.
The Gandy Farmstead Annual Apple Festival
Two weeks after my initial visit to the Gandy House during the Firemen’s Convention, I returned for the Historical Society’s Annual Apple Festival. The event reminded me of the Brinckerhoff House Strawberry Festival, a very nice family and community event that attracted everyone.
Since there were a lot of shore towns I wanted to revisit while the weather was nice, I arranged to stay at an Airbnb in Ocean City so I had plenty of time to do what I needed to do and relax afterwards.
I could not believe how crowded the roads were as so many places were having either Fall festivals or October Fest. Route 9 was like a parking lot near Smithville, NJ.
I got to the Apple Festival around noon and the parking lot was packed with people. One of the members said later that afternoon that he could not believe the consistent crowds as it was still busy at 2:15pm (the festival was over by 3:00pm). The crowds were filled with several generations of family members who I am sure were traveling from one event to another on this spectacular sunny morning.
The sign welcoming you to the event
When I arrived at the festival, the parking lot was still filling up so I had to park way in the back so I could get in and out easily. They had plenty of parking on the farm across the street.
On the Gandy family property on the other side of the home, they had an antique car show, a mini train ride around the tracks of this part of the property and a Caboose train car that you could explore.
The train tracks around the farm property
The train set up and tracks to tour around the farm
The train rides were really popular with both the small and ‘big’ kids
This small train trip had a nice sized line to it as families were really enjoying themselves
I then toured the Caboose which was set up for service and a day in the life of a conductor. Some of the volunteers were even dressed as conductors leading tour and talking to families.
The caboose on the farm property
The inside of the caboose
Getting ready for the holidays
Life of a train conductor shown in the caboose
After the tour of the car show and watching the families have fun on the trains, I headed across the street to the Gandy House for the tours and activities.
The back of the Gandy Farmstead with crafts and entertainment
Entering the Apple Festival with a Farmers Market and Apple sale
The Farmers Market of locally grown produce
They had a wonderful duo interesting the crowds that afternoon
There were all sorts of crafts stands around where the entertainment was performing
The local crafts people were really talented and included crocheted, painters, floral arrangers and jewelry markers.
One woman sold flowers from her gardens and arranged bouquets
This woman painted her own crafts and did beautiful work for both Halloween and Christmas
Here beautiful holiday crafts
I loved this Santa tree and was going to get it for my mom
This woman had the most beautiful handmade doll clothing and knit items for the holidays
What is an Apple Festival without food? I went to the concession stand for lunch and ordered a hot dog with a glass of locally made Apple cider and had an homemade Apple Shortcake, which I found out later the members had made the night before.
The concession stand where all the food was made
Enjoying my lunch. Both the hotdogs and apple cider were locally made. That’s why it tasted so good!
Hot dogs taste so good off the grill!
The delicious homemade Apple Shortcake with homemade apple topping were made by the members
I also stopped off at the apple stand where cases of apples were being sold. It looked like many people were going to make pies and sauce with these and the stand looked like they were selling out.
I managed to buy one of the Mango sweet apples they were selling individually
The apples were so hard, fresh and sweet that it made the perfect addition to dessert.
The Mango Sweet apples
Talk about delicious
After lunch I ran into the Board members who had helped me with the tour two weeks early and I took a quick tour of the first floor of the home. The laundry room was not open the day of my private tour.
Touring the outside grape arbor
The grape arbor on an early Fall day
Touring the first floor laundry room
An early washing machine
How to do laundry at the turn of the last century
After having lunch, touring the house and visiting all the vendors I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and listened to the entertainment perform. They did a combination of 70’s hit songs, country music and some James Taylor.
The duo performing
The first part of the song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” from the 1970’s before people walked in the way
The rest of the song performed. They did an excellent job with it
Before I left just after 2:00pm, I stayed to see who won the Apple pie contest. There were only three contributors but I wanted to get a slice before I left. They did not slice them up. Bummer!
The winners of the Apple pie contest
The Apple Festival sponsored by the Upper Township Historical Society happens every October. It is a wonderful family event and fundraiser for the Historical Society. I know I had a lot of fun and it reminded me of the events that I went to as a kid in the 1970’s.
It was funny that the only person who had a cell phone glued to his hand was me. It was just like the 1970’s all over again with families enjoying each other’s company. Try to visit in the future.
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