About the event:
A walking tour of the historic Blairsden mansion, known for its Beaux-Arts architecture, designed by Carriere & Hastings in 1903. The mansion has 38 rooms and is 62,000 square feet. It was originally the “country estate” for Clinton Ledyard Blair and his family. Learn about the design, construction and operational systems required to sustain this facility in the early 1900’s.
The tour will be guided by Barry Thomson, local historian and aficionado of the history of Peapack. View Barry’s bio below.
Agenda:
5:00pm – 5:30pm Networking and Refreshments
5:30pm – 7:30pm Tour
Parking:
Matheny Medical and Educational Center
65 Highland Ave.
Peapack, NJ 07977
Matheny is adjacent to the Blairsden property and access will be via the Matheny parking lot. Once entering Matheny parking, follow signs to park on the right side of the building.
William Barry Thompson:
After leaving a corporate career in New York, Barry has been engaged with many architectural and local history projects and has been an author and frequent lecturer on those topics. In his corporate career, Barry last served as Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and member of the five-officer Chairman’s Group of the multinational retail holding company Woolworth Corporation, now called Foot Locker, Inc., headquartered in New York.
The co-author with the late John K. (“Jack”) Turpin of the two-volume work, New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills, Barry has also written articles on various aspects of architecture and local history that have appeared in The Black River Journal and other publications. In addition to his research and writing, Barry has been a frequent lecturer on various aspects of architectural and local history.
Barry has volunteered his services as history consultant for many of the Mansion in May fund-raising projects sponsored by the Women’s Association for Morristown Medical Center, including the upcoming 2025 Mansion in May at the Wildfair estate in Chester Township, New Jersey.
Barry was born and raised in Peapack-Gladstone in the Somerset Hills area of New Jersey, where his family has deep roots. He received his undergraduate education at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and later studied architecture and urban planning at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.
During his corporate career, Barry was selected as a David Rockefeller Fellow, a program sponsored by the Partnership for New York City to prepare senior corporate executives for leadership roles in civic and public affairs in the city.
Over the years, Barry has served as a director, trustee, or officer of several not-for-profit organizations and foundations. These organizations and foundations have included the Schiff Natural Lands Trust; The Downtown Alliance, which manages the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District; the Bruno Walter Foundation; the New York Choral Society; The Arc of New Jersey; Friends of P.S. 165, Inc.; the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills; and the National Retail Foundation.
Barry was also the executive producer of two documentary films, one promoting the employment of people with developmental disabilities (titled “EmployABILITY,” narrated by James Earl Jones) and one about the making of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. mural that hangs in the main Washington, D.C. public library named in Dr. King’s memory.
