![]() Then to make it even better - they had drunken karaoke! At that time all we wanted was something to eat as it had been a long day. About 5 minutes after we ordered the dj started blasting music so loud you couldn't hear. Waited a few minutes and ordered drinks and pizzas. When we walked in it was quiet only about 4 people in the place. American Restaurants for Lunch in Somerset.Barcelo Bavaro Palace All Inclusive Resort.But once we run out of land to preserve, there’s still going to be an enormous amount of work to do, to take care of it. “Land trusts must preserve land while it’s still available. Johan, who joined D&R Greenway’s Trustees after the Board’s decision to preserve the property, points out that land trusts also need to plan and fund two distinct programs: preservation to protect land from development, and stewardship to manage protected land so the public can continue to enjoy its benefits. Their son (12) and two daughters (10 and 7) are enjoying the short term, reveling in their new tree houses, “wandering outside, playing in the creek, stalking nature,” says Emily. Eventually the hay will be replaced with crops that are both financially and environmentally sustainable. ![]() Emily comments, “We feel more like custodians than owners – we’re carrying the torch, preparing the property for the future the way the people before us did.” They’ll be adding to the stands of native plants (such as milkweed fields that host threatened Monarch butterflies), and will create a tree nursery and native seed bank for the property. “I’m so pleased that we received the grant from SADC to help purchase the development rights to this beautiful farm, the hole in the doughnut of preserved farmland on Mountain View Road,” says MFOS President Sarah Roberts.Įmily and Johan are now creating a long-term (“30 to 50 years”) management plan for their entire 70-acre property. ![]() The State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) provided 50% Farmland Preservation funding to Montgomery Friends of Open Space Montgomery Township and Somerset County each provided 25% match funding. The woodlands, a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees, support wildlife and protect the Cherry Run stream corridor.ĭ&R Greenway put together a partnership to preserve the property in conjunction with the Firmenichs’ purchase. The property is half fields (prime agricultural soils of statewide importance) and half forest. It’s a miracle that this road exists, and it would have been a shame to lose it.” “It’s a small road that means a lot to many people. “We have a sense of obligation,” Emily says. They decided to seize the opportunity to purchase and protect it. D&R Greenway alerted the Firmenichs that the time to use these funds was running out. Webster’s efforts, State Farmland Preservation funds had been allocated for its protection. Next to the Firmenichs’ new home was the only unpreserved tract left on Mountain View Road, a 31-acre property of woods and fields. Shortly after they moved, their love was put to the test. “The families before us on this road had the foresight to protect the land. “Oh, no, the realtor told us – it’s all been preserved,” Emily recalls. When a realtor showed them the balcony of Elizabeth Webster’s property overlooking Mountain View Road, they were awestruck by the view. Johan, who is Project Manager for Sustainability at Firmenich Corporation, grew up in Switzerland, where “Over centuries, most of the land that could be developed was developed.” ![]() Emily was raised on a farm near Quakertown, Pennsylvania, surrounded by countryside that has since been largely paved over. A full moon lit up the wide open fields and at that moment we knew we wanted to raise our children in a landscape like this.”īoth Firmenichs have vivid childhood memories of rural landscapes, and both are acutely aware of what a community loses when those open spaces are developed. “At D&R Greenway’s Down to Earth Ball at Tusculum, we took a hayride. “We were living happily in Princeton with our three young children,” Emily recounts. It all started on a moonlit night in 2011. In July, the Firmenichs, working with D&R Greenway, saved the road’s last piece of developable open space. Just as remarkable is that this landscape is now preserved along its entire length. Mountain View Road in Montgomery Township, Somerset County, is one of those hidden treasures that make visitors gasp, “ This is New Jersey!?!” Winding between Bedens Brook and Cherry Run, the road’s uninterrupted vistas of beautiful farmland are a magnet for walkers, cyclists and leisure drivers attracted to a landscape remarkable for its coherence and proximity to Princeton. An irresistible force - a magical marriage of love and devotion – drew Emily and Johan Firmenich to preserve an expanse of woods and fields on the outskirts of Princeton. ![]()
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