County Executive Wants Your Input on How to Improve Kip's Castle Park

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. is inviting the public to attend two open meetings and share their ideas about improvements needed and what activities should be held at Essex County Kip’s Castle Park. The community input will be used to create a Master Plan that will guide the County in its initiative to upgrade the historic castle and the 11-acre grounds, and establish guidelines for how the property will be utilized.

The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15 at the Israel Crane House, 110 Orange Road, Montclair, and 7 p.m. on March 22 at the Verona Park boat house.

“When the County purchased Kip’s Castle in 2007, it was a great opportunity to preserve a historic feature in the community and conserve additional open space. In the few years we have operated the site, pirate, Renaissance and special holiday themed events have been well received by the community and contributed greatly to the recreation opportunities available,” DiVincenzo said. “There is still a great amount of untapped potential in Kip’s Castle and we are asking the public to share their ideas for the building and grounds,” he added.

Since the 30-room medieval-style castle, carriage house and 11-acre property were added as the 18^th park in the historic Essex County Park System in 2007, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs has hosted a variety of free community events at the site. An open house, Harvest Welcome, Great Pirate Invasion, Winter Holiday Portraits, Victorian Lawn Games, Winter Holiday House Tours and Halloween Haunting on the Hill are just some of the family-friendly activities held at the site. In addition, the Castle has hosted small wedding parties, meetings of local historical societies and community groups, and is the headquarters for the Essex County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs.

Kip’s Castle Park was the first new addition of new open space to the Essex County Park System since 1978 when Francis A. Byrne Golf Course in West Orange was developed. The County purchased the property in 2007 for $5.6 million, using a $2.8 million grant from the NJ Green Acres program and a $2.8 million grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund for the acquisition. In 2007, $517,000 was invested to install new signage and upgrade the front entranceway and driveway with new paving, lighting and drainage. These improvements were funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.

The castle was built by Frederic E. Kip, a wealthy textile manufacturer and investor, in 1902. The 9,000-square-foot mansion is a replica of a medieval Norman castle and is constructed of local trap rock trimmed with sandstone. Many of the rooms are uniquely designed with round or octagonal shapes and vaulted ceilings. There are six ornately designed fireplaces throughout the structure. There also is a 6,000-square-foot, two-story carriage house that was renovated in 1984 to accommodate offices. The property is located on 11 acres of property on the ridge of First Mountain, and provides spectacular views. About two acres is located in Montclair and about nine acres in Verona.

The castle was used as a private residence for many years after Kip sold the estate in 1926. In the 1980s, the castle was the United States headquarters of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, an Indian guru. He sold the property in 1984 to the law firm of Schwartz Tobia Stanziale, which used the buildings as their law offices. The law firm announced its intention to sell Kip’s Castle in August 2006.

The Essex County Park System was created in 1895 and is the first county park system established in the United States. The Park System consists of more than 6,000 acres and has 20 parks, five reservations, an environmental center, a zoo, ice skating rink, roller skating rink, three public golf courses, golf driving range, three off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. Kip’s Castle Park is located in Verona and Montclair.