Henry Clay Frick II Mansion

The Frick's are one of the most consequential families in American Industrial history. Henry Clay Frick and his partner Andrew Carnagie founded Carnagie Steel.While Andrew Carnagie built libraries for the underprivileged, his partner Henry did the opposite and invested tons of his money into art. He had more money than a person could spend in a lifetime, setting up a lavish family fortune. This wealth financed the construction of the home on Closter Dock Road that I'm discussing today. 

The home was built in the 1930's in an "English Manor" style on land that was owned by the Frick family since the 1800s. Behind house was a beautiful Victorian carriage house which almost certainly predated the home itself. 

In the early 1940s Frick attended Princeton University before graduating to the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He ended up going back to Columbia for work after some time working for the US Army medical corps. 

Frick got married to his first wife, Jane Allison Coates in 1945. Coates was also in the medical field, working as a nurses assistant at North Country Community Hospital on Long Island. 

In the 1960s Dr. Frick went to Vietnam where he volunteered in a field hospital during the war.

Coates and Frick got divorced in 1978. He ended up getting remarried in 1997 to Emily Troth Dupont. They continued to live in the mansion as the real estate market in Alpine continued to balloon. 

As Dr. Frick aged into his 80's he was diagnosed with Alzheimers. His property was so valuable developers were chomping at the bit to get their hands on it, knowing they could subdivide the huge parcel into several hefty pieces. A deal was made in 2006 to let the property go for $58 million which was the most valuable home sale in the entire country that year. 

There were two contingencies to the deal. Four fireplace mantels imported from Europe and valued at $400,000 were removed prior to the keys changing hands.

The other was that Dr. Frick would be able to continue to live out his life on the property in peace as his condition deteriorated. He passed away in February of 2007.

Developer Richard Kurtz had big plans for the Alpine property, and he got to work almost immediately building an absurdly large 30,000 square foot mega mansion southeast of the Frick home. 

By 2015 the home was back on the market, this tine on a much smaller lot. It was liated for $27.8 million, once again making headlines as the third most valuable listing in the state. 

The massive stone mansion which was built nearly a decade prior was still sitting vacant, as Kurtz was unable to find a buyer for the niche property. 

I was driving through Alpine one day in 2026 checking up on the home at 6 Charney when I drove past the old Frick mansion. I couldn't believe my eyes. 

The entire property had been torn up, the home had a big red X on the front as did the next four houses along Closter Dock Road. 

Heavy Machinery was actively chewing through the house next door, so I knew I didn't have long if I wanted to make it inside the 1930's manor. 

The demolition crew seemed focused on the home they were working on, so I carefully slipped behind the Frick mansion. 

The first thing I noticed were the incredible roses that enveloped the home. Im guessing they were planted by DuPont, as shes reported to have cultivated orchids in the greenhouse. 

I found an unlocked door out back which led me right into the foyer. I was shocked at how well kept the mansion was for such an old building. 

Unfortunately the mansion was unceremoniously demolished shortly after my visit. The three houses next door were also demolished. 

Its been pretty maddening to see firsthand the amount of money churning through the Alpine real estate market at a time when sp many people are suffering and hungry in this country. I'm sure this won't be the last multi million dollar mansion demolished this year. 

Ohav Shalom Synagague

 

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The original shul building of the Ohev Shalom synagague was built in 1916. The facade was made of clay orange brick with subtle limestone accents and stained glass windows. Men and women each had their own entrance to the building, which was gender segregated. 

A small school building was added to the right side of the sanctuary in 1928.

The inside of the sanctuary was much more decorated than the outside. Beautiful hand painted zodiac symbols formed a band across the turquoise field of the ceiling. A grand chandelier hung down from the center. Beautiful stained glass filled the windows on each level.

During services the girls and women of the congregation sat on the balcony while boys and men occupied the main floor. Curtains were hung to divide the genders as is customary in orthodox Judaism. 

Over the next few decades the congregation slowly dwindled until there weren't enough men to sustain a minyan. In 2003 the synagague closed for good. The building was sold to B'nai Yakkov Shlomo Mordecai, another orthodox group.

As far as I can tell the B'nai Yakkov Shlomo Mordecai congregation never ended up using the building. Instead they let it sit vacant for more than 20 years as water and animals forced their way in, laying waste to the building. 

Eventually the buildings were sold to John and Maryan LLC who promptly filed for demolition permits. Initially the community pushed back, but after the developers agreed to salvage the stained glass windows the permits were eventually approved. After a brief flash of popularity in the Urban Exploration community the buildings were demolished by 2026. 

The demoliton of Ohev Shalom had an impact on the city's historic preservation perspective. Council members discussed being more insistent that developers save the facades of historic buildings they plan to demolish. Its a step in the right direction for sure. Hopefully the conversation shifts again to full on preservation before the city loses all its historic charm. 

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6 Charney Place

6 Charney Place in Alpine was a beautiful wooded lot which had a sinlge modest house on it since the mid 1960s. 

The home dated to a time when development was first booming throughout the town. The newly opened Palisades Interstate Parkway turned Alpine from a small, out of the way town to a NYC suburb. 

Roads were being carved through the mountains for the first time, with small to medium sized contemporary homes popping up alongside them.

The real estate market in Alpine absolutely exploded over the next several decades. Celebrities and other wealthy people snapped up the cheapest homes they could to demolish them and rebuild custom mega mansions. 

By the mid 2020's it wasn't just the smaller houses getting leveled. Several multi million dollar mansions came down during this time, including homes at 19 Marie Major and 14 Autumn Terrace. 

Sure enough the home was demolished in 2025, roughly a year after being sold for $2.25 mil. The new home being built on the property is ugly as sin and the entire lot has been stripped.bare. I'm just glad I got to experience the property as it was. 

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Good Shepherd Church of Faith

 

The Good Shepherd Church of Faith was built in 1866. It was a small wooden building with few ornamental elements used primarily by an Episcopal congregation 

Services stopped being held in the church sometime around 2013. The ancient building had already fallen pretty seriously into disrepair by then. 

The most unique feature of the building was definitely the barrel vaulted pressed tin ceiling. 

It was finally sold in 2024. The new owner promptly got to work repairing the roof and fixing up the exterior. The building is currently being used as storage until the new owner finds a practical use for it. 

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South River Trust Company

 

TFPNJ Postcard Archive

The South River Trust Company was established in 1919 at the junction of Main and Ferry Streets. The building itself is small but lavish. Two large ionic columns flank the front door, supporting a terra cotta pediment with the banks name embossed into it. Though records don't exist online, the terra cotta was almost certainly manufactured at the nearby Sayre - Fisher brickworks. Steel spandrel panels separated the first and second floor windows. The entire rest of the facade was clad in limestone. 

The banking hall was a stunner. A massive stained glass tray ceiling lit the room, supplemented by large chandeliers as well as another large window at the rear of the building. The teller counter was made of beautifully veined white marble. 

The bank managers office had the best view, overlooking the banking floor. 

The bank closed in 1931, right at the start of the Great Depression. The closure was short lived though, as the bank reorganized and reopened in 1933. 

As is the case with many banks SRTC ended up merging into a bunch of other institutions before eventually being functionally  closed. The space was being utilized by Bank of America in the fall of 2013, when it closed for renovations. 

The building never reopened as a bank. Instead it stood vacant for over a decade. I would visit the structure from time to time whenever I was in the area with time to kill. The back door was always open. It blew my mind that there wasnt any vandalism inside, and that it never ended up on the "Urbex" radar. People flocked to Sayreville for years from all over the world to sneak into the old generating station along the river. The only people who ever found out about it were friends of mine who happened to be in the area with me at the time

Work finally began to convert the space into a lobby for a brand new apartment building in 2026. Considering First National Bank just a block away was demolished entirely, I consider this new future for the SRTC building a blessing. As the town continues to grow people like me will still have the opportunity to stop by and appreciate the building.

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St Mary's Greek Catholic School

When most of the population of the United States  thinks of schools and hospitals, we think of them as public institutions that have always existed and always will. The reality is that they both trace their origins back to the Catholic church in early ninteeth century. Nearly 100 years after the first parochial school was founded, St. Mary's Assumption of Trenton established a K-8 facility on a lot across Malone St from their house of worship. 

The school was built in 1921. The facade was made of buff brick with limestone accents, a common design choice for the time. It rose three stories on a linear footprint, with classroom space on the first two floors and a large "gymatorium" on the third. 

Everything about the facility was classic parochial school. It had 11 foot ceilings on every floor. Large transom windows sat above each door in order to encourage air flow on warm days. 

Like so many neighborhood buildings the school operated without much fanfare as the neighborhood evolved around it. A large arson attack destroyed the parish church in 1956, along with nearly a dozen others. It took three years to rebuild. During the rebuild process mass was held inside the gym. 

The school officially closed in 1999. Like many other catholic schools it continued to be maintained and used for parish activities. Since churches don't pay taxes, its easy for them to sit on property rather than immediately selling off or demolishing their empty buildings. This ended up paying off during the demolition and reconstruction of Trenton Central High School in 2015. Some students from that facility were sent to St Mary's until the new high school opened in 2019. 

St. Mary's parish took advantage of the recent refurbishment and ended up putting the building on the market immediately after Trenton Central reopened. It was sold the following year. The new owners immediately replaced the roof, but aside from that nothing happened with the building for another several years. Renovation work finally began in 2026 with the goal of reopening the space as apartments. The entire building was gutted back to bare walls, erasing the well kept 1920s floorplan. 

The building will undoubtedly be more productive as apartments than it has been for the last 5 or so years, so I'll count this as a win. 

Thanks for reading.