Property manager undertakes restoration as foundation tries to meet heiress’ wishes.
By:John Patten
After years of neglect following the 1993 death of Doris Duke at age 80, Hillsborough’s largest residential property is being restored.
Although the future of the 2,739-acre estate isn’t entirely clear yet, property manager Patrick Lerch said the need to maintain many of the estate’s treasures is a priority.
Mr. Lerch is working to inventory the property, document its history and assess how to accomplish the goals Ms. Duke outlined in her will. The entire property was put in the care of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in January 1999 after it was determined the will was too vague on the property’s dispensation.
Mr. Lerch has a copy of Ms. Duke’s will at his fingertips on his computer, and refers to it when considering the different goals outlined by Ms. Duke.
"What we found was the property wasn’t appropriate for use the way Doris Duke intended it," Mr. Lerch said. He points to sections of the will that ordered the "park areas" be managed by a "Doris Duke Foundation for the Preservation of Endangered Wildlife," while the "farmland and growing areas" be run by the "Doris Duke Foundation for the Preservation of Farmland and Farm Animals."
Not only is the will vague on what constitutes the "park areas" and the "growing areas," but Mr. Lerch notes the fertilized and managed lawn of the most obvious "park areas" are not really conducive for protecting endangered wildlife.
Additionally, Duke Gardens was already operated by the Duke Gardens Foundation, and the Charitable Foundation was given responsibility for managing the household property.
"And no matter how you divide the property, you still have a body of employees," he notes. The property employs up to 150 people almost 100 are full-time workers.
But now that the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which manages a $1.2 billion endowment, has control of the property, the question remains: How can the Hillsborough property be managed to meet the late heiress’ wishes?
"Our board is committed to preserving this property as open space that was clearly in Doris Dukes’ wishes," Mr. Lerch said. But, he adds, the foundation also wants to increase "in limited ways" public access to the property.
As they try to determine how to meet both objectives, Mr. Lerch said the group has been working "to do some things to show things are being taken care of." Many of the landmark "well houses" along Dukes Parkway West and Roycefield Road are being cleaned up and restored to meet that objective.
But how far the foundation will go toward restoring the land to its original condition has not been determined.
Mr. Lerch has compiled a history of the site based on newspaper articles and old ledger books kept by Doris Dukes’ father, James Buchanan Duke. "The Duke ‘machine’ never threw anything away," Mr. Lerch notes. He also has collected postcard photos of the land as it appeared when it was open to early motorists as an "auto park."
After buying the first parcel along River Road from Sophie Veghte in 1893, Mr. Duke kept adding to his estate, until he had accumulated the huge property. Postcards showing the entrance to the estate at Dukes Parkway West show the two stone towers covered in ivy, with carefully manicured landscaping along the sides of the road. None of the trees were taller than the towers, and they stood in straight lines on both sides of the road.
Mr. Duke built 54 bridges, 45 fountains and nearly 37 miles of roads for visitors to enjoy that is, until August 1915 when a group of "rowdies" from Pennsylvania ended public access to the property after causing damage during a picnic.
The foundation for a massive French palace-style mansion was constructed on a high point on the property, but was never built due to James Dukes’ death in 1925.
Mr. Lerch said Doris Dukes’ will clearly states her properties in Hawaii and Newport, R.I., were to be opened to the public as museums, however, no such instructions were given for the Hillsborough property.
But, he adds, she clearly loved Duke Farm and would want it protected. All Mr. Lerch has to figure out is how to best accomplish that.