A 283-Acre Sussex County Estate Hits the Market as a Once-in-a-Generation Find

Rolling pastures, an 11-acre spring-fed pond, and enough contiguous acreage to feel like a different state entirely, all within commuting distance of New York City, make this equestrian estate one of the rarest listings the region has seen in years.

A 283 acre Sussex County estate featuring sweeping equestrian facilities, a private spring fed pond, genuine multigenerational living potential, and even the opportunity to acquire additional surrounding acreage is now on the market, marketed as an exceptionally rare luxury offering within driving distance of New York City. Real estate broker Jaime Luongo of Weichert, Realtors describes it as one of the most unique large acreage estates available anywhere in the region, pointing to both its sheer size and its proximity to major metropolitan areas as a combination that almost never comes up for sale.

Decades in the Making

The estate’s scale is the product of one family’s decades long vision rather than a single acquisition. The Dobbs family purchased what became Hickory Hollow Farm back in 1984, and Lou Dobbs spent years steadily acquiring additional parcels around the original property, eventually assembling the full 283 acre estate that exists today. Luongo described the opportunity to assemble this much contiguous acreage along the East Coast again as extraordinarily rare, made even more notable by the added potential to acquire still more surrounding land, calling the listing a genuine once in a generation legacy opportunity.

An Entrance That Doesn’t Feel Like New Jersey

Coming through the main gate reportedly feels closer to the opening scene of Yellowstone than a typical New Jersey property tour, with rolling pastures, a tree lined drive, working equestrian facilities, horses grazing across open fields, and a stately Colonial home fronted by columns overlooking the estate’s 11 acre pond. The scale and setting make it genuinely hard to believe the property sits in New Jersey at all, yet the estate remains remarkably close to New York City and other major metropolitan hubs, a combination of seclusion and access that Luongo said is central to its appeal.

The property itself includes a main residence, a separate guest house, a caretaker’s cottage, barns, riding facilities, open pastures, and additional outbuildings spread across multiple contiguous parcels. Luongo noted just how uncommon that scale actually is in New Jersey specifically, pointing out that finding a property above twenty five acres is already difficult in the state, let alone one running past two hundred. The main home itself includes five bedrooms and a first floor suite, along with unfinished space that could be expanded, including unfinished attic space above the garage that Luongo said could be converted into genuinely impressive living accommodations.

Land That Changes Character Parcel by Parcel

Beyond the estate’s central pond, each parcel across the property carries its own distinct topography and views, ranging from flat, expansive fields reminiscent of a polo grounds to rolling hills well suited for winter sledding, and elevated stretches offering views toward High Point State Park and, on occasion, even the aurora borealis. Luongo tied that variety directly to broader trends she is seeing across the luxury market right now, describing buyers increasingly drawn to privacy, compound style and multigenerational living arrangements, and a growing interest in genuine self sufficiency through independent utilities, fuel, and energy systems, all while staying reasonably connected to a major metropolitan area rather than moving fully off the grid.

A Blank Canvas for the Next Owner

The estate is farmland assessed but not permanently preserved, leaving the next owner considerable flexibility for how the property ultimately gets used. That could mean continuing its existing equestrian legacy, returning the land to dairy or livestock farming, or pursuing other agricultural ventures entirely. Given the property’s varied terrain, Luongo said the possibilities extend well beyond farming as well, floating potential uses ranging from a private golf course, a sports or training facility, or a shooting facility, to an automotive collector’s compound, a home office business hub, or even a production and podcast studio. Luongo expects the eventual buyer pool to include local business owners and North Jersey residents specifically seeking rare large acreage opportunities, alongside buyers drawn primarily by the estate’s genuine commuter access to New York City. Marketing a property this specific requires an equally targeted approach, she said, often involving direct outreach through equestrian communities, private clubs, and other professional and recreational networks rather than a conventional listing push. The estate remains on the market as interest continues to build, with Luongo describing it simply as a once in a lifetime opportunity for a buyer seeking both genuine seclusion and easy proximity to major economic and cultural hubs.

Newark Approves Three New Townhouses Near Malcolm X Shabazz High School

A vacant South Ward lot is set to become a small but genuinely dense residential project, with the city’s planning board signing off unanimously after the developer agreed to add windows, trees, and stricter screening than originally proposed.

A proposal to develop a vacant plot at the corner of Milford Avenue and West Bigelow Street in Newark’s South Ward moved forward this week after the city’s planning board approved a final site plan for the project. Members of the Newark Central Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the application for three three story townhouses at 150 to 154 Milford Avenue during the board’s regular meeting on September 14.

A Compact but Genuinely Dense Layout

All three townhouses will front Milford Avenue directly and include individual driveways. Each unit is built with a 500 square foot, one bedroom apartment on the ground floor, complete with its own laundry room and a one car garage. Above that, the second and third stories of each townhouse each contain a 1,000 square foot, two bedroom unit with its own separate laundry room and a single bathroom, effectively giving each of the three buildings three distinct living units stacked within one structure.

According to a staff report prepared in April, the building’s exterior will vary depending on which street it faces. The façade fronting Milford Avenue will consist primarily of gray brick, with a middle section finished in composite panel surrounding the windows, while the façade along West Bigelow Street will lean primarily on vinyl siding, accented by a gray brick section at the building’s center.

Variances Requested, and Concessions Made

Getting to approval required some real back and forth on the project’s specifics. Developer J&J Builders had originally requested ten separate variances covering insufficient lot area, setbacks, lot coverage, transparency, and parking, along with two additional design waivers. During the meeting itself, project architect Jorge Fernandes clarified that the applicant was willing to add extra windows along the building’s eastern, northern, and southern sides specifically to meet the city’s transparency requirements, narrowing the scope of relief actually being requested. Fernandes also confirmed the applicant would fully comply with the city’s ordinances governing mechanical system screening and fencing materials, both areas where the developer had initially sought exceptions before walking that request back. On the landscaping side, Fernandes said the project will include two new trees along West Bigelow Street and three additional trees along Milford Avenue.

Part of a Longer Pattern of Interest in the Area

While the developer is not required to provide a construction start date, this project adds to a genuinely long history of development interest in the blocks surrounding Malcolm X Shabazz High School. Back in May 2019, a proposal emerged to convert a dilapidated four story building a few blocks west at 446 to 450 Irvine Turner Boulevard into 29 apartments with 25 parking spaces. In August 2020, a separate proposal from HK Auto Group sought to convert a car dealership just a few blocks north, at 89 through 93 Elizabeth Avenue, into a mixed use building combining 29 apartments with 2,000 square feet of ground floor retail. Taken together with this newly approved townhouse project, the pattern points to a South Ward corridor that has quietly attracted steady residential development interest for years, even as individual projects have moved through the approval process on very different timelines.