This Somerset County hunting preserve hidden gem traces its history back four generations

You’ve driven down Lamington Road in Bedminster countless times, passing Trump National Golf Club and Clarence Dillon Public Library.

You've also passed a dirt road brimming with four-generation-old farming and hunting history, starting with Clarence Dillon, the father of former U.S. Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon.

Nearly 100 years ago, Clarence, former head of Wall Street firm Dillon, Read & Co., founded Dunwalke Farm, named after his Scottish ancestral families, the Duns and the Walkes.

It was here that his family raised animals and also lived, building homes on the property to create a bucolic, close-knit compound for Clarence’s kids and grandkids over rolling hills, forests and hay fields, where they continue to live today. In the 1930s and 1940s, Clarence also hosted pheasant shoots here.

And now, Clarence’s great-grandson, Andrew Allen, and his wife Ali Allen, are bringing back those shoots on 85 farm acres at Dunwalke Preserve, one of Somerset County’s most private, upland bird hunting destinations.

The farm is a setting for the Essex Fox Hounds, a fox hunting club in which Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a member, and the Tewksbury Foot Bassets, a club that hunts hare on foot. It’s a natural, historic destination for the sport.

“We are in this cool setting where a lot of these great old sports continue to this day which is very rare,” said Andrew. “It brings the countryside to life. We’ll look out our window and see these magnificent horses trotting by and dogs and it evokes a different time and place.”

Despite the magnificence and storied past of the property, the Allens are humble, warm and ever-grateful. Wearing blue jeans, they chase around their zippy English spaniel, Tilly, as she chases sheep and they marvel at the green pastures, which never cease to delight them.

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The Allens began hosting pheasant shoots in 2018, when hunters would meet in the hallway between the stalls of a dark, dilapidated old barn just steps away from their home, one of the farm’s original cottages that once housed the stablemaster.

Although unused for three decades, the old barn – where Andrew’s father and grandmother both learned to ride horses – was filled with history and character, like original peg wood beams.

But last fall, the Allens brought the barn back to life, just as they did with Clarence’s former hunts.

After two years of renovations, the former barn is now Dunwalke Preserve’s 4,184-square-foot clubhouse, featuring a refined, rustic style adorned with the Allens’ personal travel discoveries, antique animal mounts given by friends, and Americana artwork. The space was created as a place to gather for lunch after pheasant shoots and to host barn suppers and other events. The barn suppers will resume, possibly with seats for the public, next year.

Hosting farm-to-table dinners in the clubhouse in the spring – hunting’s off-season – with local produce, pheasant from the shoots and beef from Dunwalke Farm cows came naturally to the Allens, who love food just as much as they love hunting.

It’s also in Andrew’s blood, as his family company, Domaine Clarence Dillon, also owns Bordeaux, France chateaux Chateau Haut-Brion (Premier Grand Cru Classé), Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, Chateau Quintus and a two Michelin star restaurant in Paris named Le Clarence.

In the clubhouse, diners and hunters are surrounded by vaulted ceilings and exposed wood beams, formerly covered by the barn’s hay loft, flanked by a former transom of a boat that’s been reinvented as a bar.

“It’s the kind of thing that everyone comes in and says, ‘Tell us the story,' " said Andrew.

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The story is that the Allens found the transom, the remains of a shipwreck called “The Nelly,” in a Maine island boatyard and asked the boatyard owners if they wanted it. The owners were happy to send it to New Jersey for the couple, who married this February.

Surrounding the transom are animal trophy heads, some acquired by Clarence, as well as a crest from a London tavern called The Devonshire Arms. Antique paintings that the Allens have stumbled across in various galleries also fill the space, like one part of a series called L'Amerique of an indigenous woman with a bow and arrow. “It evokes the hunter-gatherer scenes that were indigenous to the United States and it’s just beautiful,” said Andrew.

The former hay loft is a lounge with a couch, pool table and backgammon table, among hunting memorabilia like a taxidermized fox that used to make appearances at the annual Far Hills Race Meeting. The lounge's centerpiece is an old hay fork hanging from the ceiling that the Allens found on the farm.

But perhaps the best thing that Andrew found on the farm was the inspiration to start the preserve, which became a commercial hunting preserve this year.

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“With our friends we would talk about how hunting is a passion and hobby that is gaining in popularity,” Andrew said. “And over time, they would visit and say, ‘This property and habitat is unbelievable – you have to host something here.' "

The preserve now has 100 members by invitation only. However, members can bring guests, who can be invited back. Public seats may open in the future.

The preserve’s pheasant shoots begin with a breakfast in the clubhouse followed by the shoot.

The pheasants are purchased from a Pennsylvania game farm at 10 weeks old before being raised at Dunwalke Preserve. Both walkup and driven shoots are offered.

In the driven shoots, hunters shoot birds flying upwards to the sky, a simulation of English and Scottish hunting practices. In walkup shoots, hunters traverse the land with a bird dog, who gets the scent of a pheasant before the hunter attempts to bring it down.

But since only 30-45% of the released 800 pheasants in a driven shoot are shot, around 500 remain free.

“You’re populating the countryside with these magnificent Mongolian ringneck pheasants,” Andrew said. “By the end of the season, there are a lot of pheasants running around.”

Halfway through the morning is a break with light fare and warm beverages before moving to the second shoot location. The day is capped by a seasonal game lunch and wine from the family’s vineyards.

“We use those pheasants for our meal that day or add them to the supply in the freezer, which we will use for a bigger event down the road,” said Andrew. “Everything that we take here on the farm goes right to the table.”

It’s been that way since New York native Clarence founded the farm in 1928. Today, the Allens raise cattle, sheep, chickens, and a few miniature goats that are more like pets. To create a better habitat for the shooting preserve, they also raise sorghum, which serves as both food and cover for pheasants. The family has also raised Timothy hay for local farms as well as award-winning Polled Hereford cattle.

“It began when my great-grandfather met a Somerset County family who told him about the open, rural areas of New Jersey and he was intrigued,” said Andrew. “He saw that there was an opportunity to create something unique here.”

Learn more: dunwalkepreserve.com; instagram.com/dunwalke_preserve.

Contact: [email protected]

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, although she's a lifetime Jersey girl who considers herself an expert in everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State's buzzing downtowns. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bedminster hunting spot Dunwalke Preserve is a historic hidden gem