Mendham
Mendham Township is largely rural and residential, with big lots, horse properties and estate homes that depend on private septic systems and wells. Mendham Borough adds an older village center with tighter lots surrounded by more homes on septic. Across both, many houses are well past the age when original systems start to wear out. A local septic contractor can help with routine pumping, inspections when a house goes under contract, and the larger engineered repairs that some of these properties need.
The Mendhams sit at the top of several watersheds at once. The Passaic River begins at a pond in the Borough, the North Branch of the Raritan starts there too and runs past Ralston, and brooks on the Township's east side form the upper Whippany. Those headwaters are protected waters, and Highlands planning for the Township sets septic density at several acres per home. Terrain is the other big factor. Lots off roads like Tempe Wick, Mountainside and Pleasant Valley are often hilly and wooded, with long driveways that test a pump truck. In the Township's southwest corner, carbonate rock underlies some ground, which regional planners flag because effluent can move quickly through it. Groundwater also climbs in late fall and spring, when struggling fields tend to show.
Sections of Mendham
- Brookside (Mendham Township, NRHP-listed hamlet)
- Ralston (Mendham Township, NRHP-listed hamlet)
- Colemans Hollow (Mendham Township)
- Days Mills (Mendham Township)
- Pleasant Valley (Mendham Township)
- Washington Corner (Mendham Township)
- Mendham Historic District / village center (Mendham Borough)
- Wendover (Mendham Borough, former estate on the slope of Bernardsville Mountain)
- Mendham Borough
- Brookside
- Ralston
- Washington Corner
- Pleasant Valley
- Colemans Hollow
Main roads
- Route 24 / Main Street (County Route 510). Mendham Borough: main east-west road through the historic village; also the most significant road serving Mendham Township
- County Route 525. Mendham Borough: significant county road serving the borough
- Hilltop Road. Mendham Borough: corridor for the borough's Phase 1 water line work
- Bernardsville Road. Mendham Borough: local road toward Bernardsville, which borders the borough to the south
- West Main Street. Mendham Borough: western stretch of Main Street
- Pleasant Valley Road. Mendham Township: rural road; access to Schiff Nature Preserve
- Roxiticus Road. Mendham Township: rural road named in the county hazard plan for runoff flooding
- Mosle Road. Mendham Township: local road flagged in the county hazard plan for drainage needs
- Ironia Road. Mendham Township: access to India Brook Park
- Cherry Lane. Mendham Township: road in the Brookside section
Landmarks
- Mendham Historic District. Mendham Borough: 153-acre district along Main Street, on the National Register since 1985, with 140 contributing buildings
- Phoenix House. Mendham Borough: historic building that serves as the borough's municipal building
- Borough Park. Mendham Borough: town-center park with ball fields, courts, playground and the gazebo used for the tree lighting
- Schiff Nature Preserve. Mendham Township: off Pleasant Valley Road, with hiking trails and nature programs
- India Brook Park and Buttermilk Falls. Mendham Township: off Ironia Road, recreation fields and a trail to Buttermilk Falls on India Brook
- Patriots' Path. Mendham Township: county trail system with miles of hiking trails
- Pitney Park. Mendham Township: park that hosts township holiday events
- Brookside and Ralston historic hamlets. Mendham Township: both listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Nearby towns
- Morris Township
- Harding Township
- Randolph
- Chester Township
- Bernardsville
- Peapack-Gladstone
Not sure if you're covered? Call and ask. If the local crew can't reach you, they'll say so up front.