Kip’s Castle — the 9,000-square-foot replica of a medieval Norman castle that straddles Montclair and Verona on the ridge of First Mountain — along with its 11-acre estate, became part of the Essex County park system in 2007. The castle, which was built in 1902 by textile manufacturer Frederic E. Kip, was the first new addition of open space to the county park system since 1978.

In the few years since then, there have been a variety of public events at the site, but the county feels that the space can be better utilized. “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,” said County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr.

DiVincenzo is hosting 2 open community meetings and wants people to come and share their suggestions about what improvements are needed and what activities should be held at the 30-room castle, carriage house and 11-acre property. The community input will be used to create a Master Plan that will guide the county in its initiative to upgrade the park, and establish guidelines for how the property will be utilized.

The meetings will be held on:

First Meeting:
Tuesday, March 15, 7 p.m.
Israel Crane House, 110 Orange Road, Montclair

Second Meeting:
Tuesday, March 22, 7 p.m.
Essex County Verona Park (meet in the Boathouse)
Bloomfield Avenue, Verona

Both locations are handicap accessible. For more information, please call 973-239-7072.

Anyone have stories about time spent at Kip’s Castle? Who remembers when it was the United States headquarters for the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh?

35 replies on “Have a Vision for Kip’s Castle Park?”

  2. Tear it down and use the stone to create tasteful Alpine rock gardens along Upper Mountain Avenue. Lederhosen not included.

  6. Deer Hunting Lodge and Feasting Hall for county government officials and their cronies. Sanitarium for beleaguered Montclair taxpayers? Celebrity Re-hab facility?

  7. While all of Deadeye’s suggestions sound lucrative, I think it should be rented out for events. I love that castle – it’s needs to be spruced up, but using it for offices as it is right now is a waste.

  8. There are a couple of, what seem to be, similar facilities in Westchester county that are rented out for parties and receptions. They do a great business. This seems like an ideal site for that sort of use.

  11. What about events such as high-end children’s parties? Then the minions could dump slime onto the kids below or shoot Nerf arrows at them.

  13. I remember when the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh lived here. I think he made a quick get-a-way out of town. Is he the same guy who set up shop in Utah? I think the biggest set back to having large community events at Kips is that winding road. Can’t have hundreds of people going up & down that road. At the bottom of my list of ideas is a restaurant that us little folk can’t afford to eat at. I love Joe D. for his commitment to our county parks & public spaces. Public meetings to gather community ideas is a great idea.

  15. Actually, oliveoyle, the Bhagwan fled not to Utah, but to a place called Antelope Valley, Oregon. Where his followers showered him with the Rolls Royces he so loved (I believe he had 25 or so when the operation finally collapsed)and he also collected machine guns, which brought his cult to the attention of the ATF and proved its eventual undoing here in the US.

    Still, there was a time when his glassy-eyed devotees wandered the streets of Montclair in their saffron and red robes. So any improvement to Kip’s Castle should at least recall that time in the color scheme of its decor, I’d suggest. How different, after all, were the lock-step opinions of the Bhagwan’s minions compared to those of typical Montclair liberals today? For Mayor Fried it’s bicycles, for the Bhagwan it was Brit-nade cars, that’s all.

  16. I love riding my bike up that road and then down the switchbacks (a mini Eagle Rock). It will be too bad when alot of cars start using it.

  18. One of those “lock step liberals”—

    “The governor has a 53% approval rating, said Alex DeCroce (R-Union) — I’ll vote with him every time.”

  19. Move it stone by stone to the DCH site, put solar panels on it, close the Bullock school and make into a new old, green space elementary school.

  20. It’s a great piece of property and very happy it was saved from the bulldozer. Nice views on a clear day.

  21. Let’s make Kips into a gigantic center for the arts, with theaters and recital halls and a bowling alley with a bar that serves Budweiser in bottles.

  22. County government at work. Buy it and figure out what, if anything, we can do with it later. We may not have librarians in the schools, but thank God someone is looking after the Castle’s “untapped potential”.

  23. Interesting that Bhagwan was once a local figure. I remember reading about him in Oregon where, given that his followers outnumbered the locals, they tried to take over the town and re-name it Rajneeshpuram or something. To join the group you had to sign over all of your resources to him, and lots of trust-funders got on board. The highlight of the day was to stand along the road to hopefully catch a glimpse of the resplendent Bhagwan as he tooled by in one of his Roll Royces. Then the IRS caught up with him and he skedaddled back to India minus most of the cars and cash.

    I’m seeing some disturbing parallels here between our local government and Rajneeshpuram. I mean the part about people freely giving away their assets to finance a Utopian dream that is just a lavish boondoggle that has been sold to them by a clever and self-serving huckster. Got to run, I think I see Mayor Fried cycling by. Maybe he’ll wave at me as I throw money at him.

  24. Hmmm, Fried has been to China, which is not far from India…. you may be on to something, deadeye.

    I’ll begin to worry in earnest when the mayor is standing in the parking lot of 205 Claremont next to big pot, ladling out Kool-Aide.

  25. Hmmm, Fried has been to China, which is not far from India… you may be on to something here, deadeye.

    I’ll begin to worry in earnest when Fried stands in the parking lot of 205 Claremont next to a big pot, ladling out cups of Kool-Aide.

  28. Okay, the weird things about that post – It’s 15 years ago, and my daughter the doctor can see the Kip’s flag from the front of her office building. That is just too weird. I guess all those health classes paid off.

  29. Back in the previous decade when I was the delivery guy for Belgiovine’s Deli, the last tenants of Kip’s Castle before the county bought it, a law firm, were regular customers. I had the pleasure of seeing the place from the inside many times. The views from the picture window at the end of the entry hall would have been spectacular except for all the trees. (I got to examine the view & interior architecture in depth; one particular lawyer had me spending a lot of time there, waiting for her to get off the phone & come down to pay for her lunch. She was a lousy tipper too, as if that’s any surprise.)

    It’s a fabulous site, but I think parking & the precarious roadway would limit its usefulness for large-scale events. I hope they’ve fixed some of thsoe potholes & shored up the crumbling road edges by now; it was an unnerving drive at a few points in wintertime.

  31. I’d go for MM’s soundtrack, but no crummy white music from 1960 -1964, and by all means no playing of “I Honestly Love You” “Candy Man” or “All By Myself”. Also, no Neil Diamond, no Neil Sedaka, no Barbra Streisand, no Barry Manilow.
    We should also allow the 1950’s rock greats like Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

  32. Ger real! Lease it….it’s going to be Kip’s Corporate conference & retreat hotel for executive committees and leadership teams for Int’l Fortune 100 companies. Don’t need much parking just good vittles and wine bar…..Wi Fi included in the package. Helicopter service to & from Teterboro, EWR and NYC. Serge the Conscierge available 24-7…..That’ll be one hellava ratable!

  33. I actually got married there last saturday – it was a very small wedding (less than 12 people) and the people I dealt with were great. It needs some more work still but they could renovate the upstairs into a hall and use the downstairs for cocktails. They also said its available for larger groups outside.

  34. Mazel tov, Michelle. It’s nice to hear from you, but frankly we don’t care that much about the castle. Tell us about the wedding!

Comments are closed.