George Marshall Allen, a New York businessman, paid a lot of money for passions such as entertaining, sailing, and photography. He also loved English architecture and it’s this ardor that left the New Jersey scenery with an incredible mark. Allen constructed Glynallen in 1917. This superb mansion is situated in Morris Township and measures 32,000 square feet. The house looks like an English castle and it also has a dungeon that is 10 feet high. Currently, the house can be bought for $5.8 million.
The mansion looks approximately 400 years old and it has an interesting history. The dungeon of this castle was used for staging plays. Additionally, it was the set of a silent movie in 1919. The castle even went through foreclosure procedures. Lately, the designers and architects spruced the house so as to use it for a fundraising.
The mansion was built in almost 5 years and in 1987 it was listed as a historic place in the National Register. This impressive estate features no less than 66 rooms and covers 7.3 acres. It stretches along the Millionaire’s Row, a road full of country estates built by wealthy families. In 1941, George Marshall Allen died. His widow passed away 10 years later and General Drafting Co. has taken over the property. The mansion was the headquarters of the map-publishing company until 1992.
In 1996, the house was purchased by a family for the price of $1.15 million. In 2011 they evacuated the property, which entered in foreclosure procedures lead by the Community Bank. The mansion features 4 powder rooms, 8 full bathrooms and 15 bedrooms. Additionally, it has features such as terrace gardens, stained-glass windows, wrought-iron lanterns, gargoyles, carved wood- paneling and 16 chimneys. Mr. Allen used to run various business ventures. So he utilized the dungeon inside the castle to organize plays. The guests were brought to the party with a personal train. In order for the property to look ancient and old, the modern conveniences were concealed. For example, the telephone was hidden behind a secret panel.
In 2011, the house was taken over by the bank. Still, it agreed to put it back on the market so as to be used for a charity event called “Mansions in May”. The event is organized by the Morristown Medical Center and its Women’s Association. More than 60 landscape and interior designers spruced and decorated the house. The entire work lasted 4 months. One it was opened for the public, almost 27,000 visitors came to see it. The charity event managed to raise $1.25 million, money that was used for building a new care center.
There are high hopes from the new owner, who is expected to do some restorations, but still maintain the old features at the same time. Some of the rooms and the kitchen were remodeled, but the bathrooms and the fireplaces need work. They also said that the greatest feature of the property is the dungeon, hidden behind a secret door.
