Morristown, N.J., occupies an area of just over three square miles and is home to about 20,000 residents. The area is experiencing a seller's market as more and more city dwellers buy into the area’s outsized real estate values.

Morristown is affectionately known as “Mo Town,” “The Mo,” and “Mo City,” as well as the “Military Capital of the American Revolution” due to its role in the war for independence. Today, this history is visible in various locations throughout the town that collectively make up Morristown National Historical Park.

Morristown is a haven for outdoor recreation, arts, culture, and food. There’s a long list of local activities to enjoy for those lucky enough to own Morristown real estate.

The Frelinghuysen Arboretum is a 127-acre botanical garden highlighting a mansion built in the Colonial Revival style surrounded by gentle meadows, woodlands, and manicured gardens. The gardens feature native and exotic plants, shrubs, shade trees, variegated ornamental grasses, fall foliage, and fruit. The Arboretum offers walking and hiking trails and outdoor summer concerts for music lovers. Its “Branching Out” garden offers school-age children the opportunity to learn about plants and botanical best practices. Children can grow flowers, vegetables, and herbs to bring home and use in cooking at the arboretum.

The Morristown National Historical Park is a nearly 1,700-acre park registered as a historic site in the U.S. It features four major Revolutionary War sites: the Ford Mansion (which served as headquarters for General George Washington), Fort Nonsense, Jockey Hollow, and the New Jersey Brigade Encampment Site. The park also showcases an 18th-century farm and reconstructions of soldiers' living quarters. Nature lovers will revel in the chance to walk along a three-mile tour road or venture along more than 24 miles of hiking trails through gentle, lush fields and dense forests. If hiking isn’t your thing, the park offers guided tours and battle reenactments for history lovers.

The Morris Museum is the second-oldest museum in the state, established in 1913. It offers many programs focused on the arts, history, film, music, science, and symposiums and is an affiliate of the world-famous Smithsonian. Its mission is “interpreting the past, discovering the future, through art, sound, and motion.” One of its mesmerizing exhibitions is the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata, featuring more than 750 pieces of mechanized instruments and equipment.

Outdoor enthusiasts can revel in nature to their heart’s content with a visit to the Loantaka Brook Reservation. It’s a nature preserve and park that offers more than eight miles of biking and hiking trails, sports fields, and open spaces for visitors to picnic or just relax. The Seaton Hackney Stables provide visitors with horseback riding opportunities on an adjoining property. Another local favorite is the Lewis Morris Park, with many choices for recreation-hungry residents of Morristown homes. The Sunrise Lake features sandy beaches, boating, fishing, and canoeing. The park also offers varied sports fields, hiking, biking, jogging trails, horseback riding, and dog walking. Visitors can indulge in ice skating, cross-country skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing during the winter months.

If you’re looking at Morristown homes for sale, you’ll need to stop for lunch or dinner. Look no further than Millie's Old World Meatballs and Pizza for tasty coal and wood-fired pizzas, artisan sandwiches, entrées (including a hearty turkey meatball vodka platter), and calzones. Millie’s also offers its “Pot-of-Balls,” allowing patrons to take home 12 or 24 vodka or marinara sauced meatballs and bring back the pot for a discounted refill when they’ve eaten them all.

 

The Jockey Hollow Bar and Kitchen features an oyster bar with a wide variety of raw bar “small plates” and elegant farm-to-table entrées. The raw bar showcases jumbo shrimp cocktail, raw oysters, little neck clams, and scallop crudo. Chilled pea soup and Kung Pao octopus are favored menu options as well. Tuck into sumptuous lamb sausage tortellini in a spiced lamb broth with caramelized onions, dates, and lemon yogurt. Opt for the Bavette steak with brisket jus or potato pave, turnip, and spring onion almond romesco.

 

 

For diners in search of more homey dishes, there’s no place better than Pierogies House. The restaurant features authentic, handmade pierogies and is vegan-friendly. The pierogies can be pan-fried or boiled, and there are many varieties available. Look out for other Polish favorites, including potato pancakes, cabbage stuffed with pork and rice, pickle soup, and fruit-filled pierogies and blintzes.

If you’re ready to start looking for Morristown homes for sale, reach out to local realtor Emily Lafrinere. Emily is an expert on Morristown homes for sale and the area’s contemporary market trends. Wherever you are in the process of researching Morristown real estate, contact Emily and her team today.