The property was part of a larger agricultural property until 1885, when it was developed as a country estate called Brookhurst by William Bainbridge Shattuck of
New York City. Shattuck hired architect
James Renwick Jr., whose well-known commissions include the
Smithsonian Castle in
Washington, D.C. The main house burned down in 1908, leaving only a number of Renwick-designed outbuildings. The estate was then purchased by Newbold Morris (the son of
Augustus Newbold Morris), who hired
Francis L. V. Hoppin and Terence Koen (who had also done work on
Edith Wharton's
The Mount) to design a grand Colonial Revival mansion house. One of the outbuildings from this period was converted into a guesthouse by Frelinghuysen and Morris. Upon the death of Helen Morris in 1956, the estate was divided into three portions. The westernmost element, which includes some of the Brookhurst outbuildings, was inherited by George Morris. He had hired George Sanderson, a college classmate, to design the Modernist studio which was completed in 1930, taking inspiration from the groundbreaking work of
Le Corbusier. The studio is one of the oldest Modernist buildings in the state. The house was added in 1941, after Morris and Frelinghuysen married, as an adjunct to the studio space, and is considered an early example of Mid-Century Modern architecture. Morris died in 1975, and Frelinghuysen in 1988. After her death, a non-profit foundation was established to preserve the property as a museum. ==See also==