August 15, 2016, Morristown, NJ – The Women’s Association for Morristown Medical Center (WAMMC) is pleased to announce its 18th Mansion in May Designer Showhouse and Gardens at Alnwick Hall located in Morristown, New Jersey. Alnwick Hall, known in recent years as The Abbey and once the residence of Edward Peter Meany and his wife, Rosalie Behr, will open its doors to the public as the Mansion in May for 2017.
The 20,000 square foot, brick mansion, designed for the Meanys by architect, Percy Griffin, and built between 1903 and 1904, was modeled after various fifteenth- and sixteenth-century English prototypes, including Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. Stained glass windows were created by the noted artist, Otto Heinigke.
Alnwick Hall – The Abbey is a now-rare and largely unaltered survivor of “Millionaire’s Row,” the stretch of Madison Avenue between Morristown and Madison that, during the area’s Gilded Age, was lined by a nearly unbroken series of large and elegant estate houses. At the time, Madison Avenue was referred to as “the street of the 100 millionaires” and “the finest four miles in the world.”
Edward Peter Meany was, for many years, legal counsel for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and many of its affiliated companies and was instrumental in the expansion of long-distance telephone coverage across the United States. Meany also served on numerous other corporate boards as well as governmental bodies and was appointed by New Jersey Governor George T. Werts (a former mayor of Morristown) to be one of the three initial New Jersey commissioners for the Palisades Interstate Commission. In 1893, Governor Werts appointed Meany to the post of Judge Advocate of the New Jersey National Guard, with the rank of brigadier-general, a title he retained and used for the rest of his life.
The mansion will once again be brought to life through the design inspirations of some of the metropolitan areas leading interior designers. Mansion in May 2017 will be open to the public from May 1 to May 31, 2017 and will be available for private tours and private events. Advanced tickets will be available online and at select local retail locations in early 2017.
Mansion in May is the signature fundraiser for WAMMC, generating over $10 million for Morristown Medical Center since 1974. WAMMC’s most recent Mansion in May 2014 at Blairsden in Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey raised over $2 million for the expansion of the Joan and Edward Foley Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the addition of a new Autism and Child Development Center for the Goryeb Children’s Hospital at Morristown Medical Center.
About the Women’s Association for Morristown Medical Center
Founded in March 1893 to provide financial support to Morristown Medical Center, part of the Atlantic Health System, the Women’s Association for Morristown Medical Center (WAMMC) helps enable the hospital to respond to the changing healthcare needs of the community. With a volunteer base of over 700 members, WAMMC orchestrates and hosts a number of high-quality fundraising events, anchored by the Association’s flagship event, Mansion in May – a designer showhouse open to the public every other year. WAMMC also operates several free-standing, revenue-producing entities, including the hospital’s gift shops and The Bargain Box Thrift Boutique. WAMMC, one of the largest contributors to the Foundation for Morristown Medical Center, is an integral part of the hospital’s ability to continue bringing cutting-edge technology and superior health care services to the community, and has raised nearly $25 million to date in support of this mission.