Abandoned Mansion – The House of Findel

All the world was a depressing grey. The cold air bit at our skin as we made our way up the long driveway, meandering through downed tree limbs and collapsed piles of stone which were once retaining walls. The only greenery in sight on this cold January morning was that of a small bamboo forest which was now growing wild just off the edge of the leaf-covered pavement. We rounded one last bend and our destination finally came into view – A grand mansion… or the remains of one at least.

It too was grey, desaturated as was the sky and the winter forest that lay beyond it. Massive and broken, it stood tall over a stagnate brown pit that was once a beautiful landscaped pond and brook. Nearly every one of it’s countless windows were sealed shut with weathered plywood, all that remained of the few that weren’t was bits of shattered glass. The lawn had grown tall and brown, as we approached the front steps a light snow began to fall. It’s an incredible sight, and one that conjures up many questions, the most obvious being – Just how on earth does a sprawling estate (last listed for sale at an astounding $8,000,000) come to be forgotten and neglected in a patch of NJ woods? As it would happen, this home is the sad end to a sordid tale that involves the federal government and a $11 million mortgage scheme…

The entire sordid tale of the Findel estate can be found on our website here – http://bit.ly/FindelHouse

The mansion is also featured in issue #48 of Weird NJ magazine, available here – www.WeirdNJ.com

Music – “Low Horizon” by Kai Engel