The Birch Mansion

Above is the floorplan for the Birch Mansion drawn by architect Dudley Newton.

The Birch Mansion in Mahwah, New Jersey covered in vines

The Birch Mansion was originally built for Theodore Havemeyer’s daughter Natalie “Lillie” Havemeyer  Mayer and her husband John Mayer as a wedding present. It later became the home of Stephen Birch once he obtained the property. The mansion was built between the years of 1887 and 1890 and was projected to have cost around $100,000. The Mansion was one of the most impressive structures in the area upon its construction.  The Birch Mansion housed the Mayer family until the purchase of the property by Stephen Birch.  The Birch family then remained on the property until the sale of the entire estate to the state to form Ramapo College.  

Dudley Newton designed  Natalie “Lillie” Mayer’s home as a Queen Anne style mansion.  Queen Anne mansions typically have very distinct features such as patterned shingles, bay windows, irregular roof shapes, decorative ornamentation and a dominant front-facing gable.  Another feature that Queen Anne style homes possess is being predominantly made of brick, which the Birch Mansion definitely is.  The mansion also has a large bay window on the the side of the house that almost makes up the entire side.  The birch mansion has multi colored and irregular shingles along the entire roof and has very detailed, very beautiful ornamentation throughout the exterior of the entire house.  Every detail of the house was thought out and built to perfection.

The Mansion has seen both controversy and mystery in the past.  The most well known was the mysterious death of Natalie Ida Blanche“Lillie” Havemeyer Meyer.  While in the mansion she briefly spoke to a worker named Clinton Page.  As they concluded their conversation she walked into her room and went into a desk.  Moments later a gunshot went off and she was bleeding on the floor.  She lingered for a few days under medical care but she passed away.  The family claimed that the gunshot was an accident and the Natalie did not take her own life, but there was some peculiar circumstances regarding her death.  She was known to be an expert with a rifle and was no stranger to guns.  Natalie visited her mother at the Havemeyer House right before the shooting and seemed in good spirits.  There have been many rumors regarding her death and now some say the Birch Mansion is haunted by her spirit.  People have claimed to see a woman in or around the outside of the mansion as recently as 2015.