In 1905, skilled craftsmen completed construction of a 9,000-square-foot manor home called Kypsburg, set on a ridge overlooking the skyline of Manhattan and the New Jersey villages of Verona and Montclair. Textile tycoon Frederick Ellsworth Kip and his wife, Charlotte, spent two decades in their mansion on the hill, better known as Kip's Castle, before a series of new owners allowed the massive stone edifice to fall into a state of decay. In 2007, Essex County rode in on a white horse to save the 11-acre estate, but the story of Kip's Castle has yet to achieve a happily-ever-after ending.
Construction began on Kip's Castle in 1902, after Charlotte Bishop Williams Kip gave her approval for the home's design. The Kip family lived in the four-story castle in Verona until the death of Charlotte in 1926. Her heartbroken husband sold the estate to a steamship and oil baron, the first of a succession of subsequent owners. Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh purchased the mansion in the late 1970s, turning it into a monastery of sorts for followers of the sexual revolution. After the guru's deportation in 1985, reports surfaced that his followers had broken windows and coated the entire interior with white paint. In total disrepair, the law firm of Schwartz, Tobia & Stanziale bought the estate and began extensive renovations until putting it on the market in 2006. Essex County purchased the property in 2007 for $5.6 million dollars, saving it from development under the Essex County Park System.
Sitting atop First Mountain, the Norman-style mansion, made largely of trap rock and red sandstone, looms over the surrounding area like a huge sandcastle. Massive corner turrets, stone arches and dark, leaded windows can be seen from the village of Verona below. The front of the castle features a stone veranda held up by round pillars. Pointed stone fences, gates and steps line the perimeter of the building. The interior houses 30 elaborate rooms, with English quarter-sawn oak woodwork, Tiffany stained-glass windows and intricate ceiling medallions gracing many of the spaces. A front foyer contains a large stone fireplace, arched stained-glass windows and built-in window seats where visitors were once greeted. Although the family home lacks a ballroom and grand dining hall, octagon-shaped rooms, domed ceilings and distinctive tile work impart a formality associated with houses of the Gilded Age. A second-floor master bedroom with eight tall windows provides the home with its most noteworthy feature: vistas of the Hudson River and Jersey City, Newark and New York City skylines.
While the view ranks as it's biggest wow factor, the 11-acre estate's gardens make a powerful statement of their own. Charlotte Kip designed the grounds, including the property's showcase: the southwest corner's octagon-shaped rose garden. Ivy grows on the mansion's exterior walls, and green lawns border a serpentine driveway. A 6,000-square-foot carriage house matches the main house, and smaller outbuildings, stone fences and tall trees provide added interest.
Essex County Park System has plans to restore the estate to its original grandeur, but those plans have yet to be fully realized. County offices are now housed in the castle, along with Kip's Castle Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the estate as a recreational, cultural and educational park open to the public. Repairs are ongoing, and due to extensive work needed on the roof and Tiffany windows, the castle is closed to visitors until further notice. The grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk, and visitors are invited to stroll around the gardens, picnic on the lawn and relish in the views from the ridge.
