Fire Destroys Historic Wildcliff Home

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A fire destroyed the historic Wildcliff home in New Rochelle on Monday.

The blaze broke out around 4:20 p.m. at the home located at 44 Wildcliff Road overlooking the Long Island Sound.

Wildcliff was built in the 1850s and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It has been unoccupied for the past several years. It was in previous years an arts center.

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Mayor Noam Bramson issued a statement about the Wildcliff Center.

“Our Fire Department is fully engaged in fighting the fire that sadly is claiming one of the City’s significant historic properties — one that I personally have known and loved, and I am deeply saddened by the loss. While the investigation will begin into the cause and it is too soon for next steps, we want to express our gratitude to the member of the Fire, Police, Public Works and Parks Departments who are each doing their part this evening in horrendous conditions to protect and secure the surrounding neighborhood,” he said in a prepared statement.

The city also provided some historical information about Wildcliff:

Wildcliff was built in 1855, designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis. This Gothic cottage was gifted to the City of New Rochelle by the Julius Prince family in 1940. After having been utilized for city offices the building has housed a variety of notprofit groups and functions, including Wildcliff Natural Science Center, East Coast Performing Arts and Wildcliff Center for the Arts. The interior of the building has not been used for several years; the exterior was restored with funds from the sale of adjacent property. It was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2002 and is a locally designated site.

Main image via New Rochelle firefighters.