Born in 1885, George Rapp, John Rapp’s grandfather, came through Ellis Island in 1908, coming to Monticello, NY in 1909. Because of the great fire there and looking for work, he ended up working as a gardener on the O’Neill estate. He bought the first 50 acres of what would be Maplehorst Farm Nursery shortly after coming to Monticello. By 1915 he had purchased another 100 acres for more room for cows at the time (they had a farm to support the family, not a dairy farm). He started Maplehorst Farm Nursery in 1930, a landscaping business, because of the growing resort area. The name for the business originated because the area was known as "Maplewood". George Rapp used the German word for Maple grove and named the business Maplehorst. George Rapp and his son, Walter Rapp, started the wholesale wreath, roping, and bough business circa 1935 to prolong their season. They sold wholesale greenery from Balsam, Hemlock, White Pine, Mountain Laurel and Red Pine to florists and garden centers in Connecticut, Long Island and New Jersey.
Wholesale Christmas trees were added to the Christmas greenery business in the late 1940s. In the early 1950s, George Rapp retired and moved upstate, leaving his son Walter to run the business by himself. Walter purchased an adjoining farm to give him a total of 200 acres. Walter's son, John, worked with his father since "he could carry a tree". It was not until the early 1960s that they planted their first Scotch pine but had been growing Blue Spruce and Balsam Christmas trees since the 1940s. Sadly, George Rapp passed away in March 1966, but his legacy lived on. The family stopped selling wholesale in 1967 and concentrated on selling fresh cut Christmas trees obtained from area growers, and the rest of the winter cut hardwood logs and sold them to area sawmills.
Maplehorst started making wreaths to sell retail in the early 1970s. John made 4 dozen wreaths his first year for the retail market. Then he proceeded to make different sizes and expand it to other greenery, making novelties and using different species of evergreens. John soon involved his children in the business, Even though they were young, he would give them small tasks like picking pine cones, hoping to spark their interest in the farm. The farm continued to sell fresh cut trees. By 1980, the wreath retail business had grown to a few hundred wreaths a year and the Christmas tree selling season was increasing in length. In December 1985, Walter Rapp, John's father, passed away from a massive heart attack at the age of 73. John has continued to do the Christmas tree business along with the landscaping business. He does lawns and stonework with Bluestone and field stone.
In the early 1990s, John joined the Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York and made a concentrated effort to expand the Choose and Harvest tree business transitioning the farm into growing Fraser fir, blue spruce and balsam. John's wife, Ellie, helped him with the Christmas business by making all the bows for the wreaths and other decorations from natural greens. The business was growing and every year John planted more Christmas tree seedlings.
By 2000, John had started making plans to start a Christmas Shop. By this time John's family, his wife Ellie, son John William, and his daughter Karen, were involved during the Christmas season. In July 2001, Ellie was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passed away in January of 2002. John pushed on and along with his daughter, Karen, opened their Christmas Shoppe in December 2004. Starting small, they decided to use only two rooms of the Rapp's 1939 farm house. The Christmas Shoppe today has expanded into the whole downstairs, including a restored attached greenhouse, and has over 3,000 items for sale.
In 2019, the farm has over 40 acres in Christmas trees and is continuing as a fourth generation farm. Both of John’s children, John William and Karen and her husband, Arnold are involved in helping the farm continue, as is John’s long time friend, Anne Dolan.