Big Old Houses

  • Vancroft Mansion Fire

    Vancroft Mansion
    1500 Brinker Road
    Wellsburg, WV 26070

    Vancroft Mansion (also known as Aspen Manor, Bubble Manor, and the Knights of St. George mansion), caught fire just after midnight Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Having been fully engulfed in flames, details about the extent of the damage from the fire have not been released.


    From the Franklin Community Volunteer Fire Department:

    Shortly after midnight, members from Wellsburg and Franklin were dispatched to Brinker Road for a reported structure fire. Initial units arrived to find the former Vancroft Mansion fully engulfed in flames. Due to no water in the hydrants on the hill multiple mutual aid agencies were dispatched from surrounding counties and water had to be relayed from the Ohio River and a hydrant site at 12th Street to the scene. This scene is still very active, please avoid Brinker Road and Pleasant Ave. A reminder to all, the road leading up to and the buildings within are private property and should be treated as such. Only authorized personell and authorities should be on manor property.

  • Mizner Court 1985

    COME LIVE IN THE SPIRIT OF ADDISON MIZNER, AND THE HEART OF BOCA RATON.

    Mizner Court Magazine Advertisement (1985)

    When Addison Mizner created Boca Raton in the 1920’s, for him it was more than just a place to live. It was a state of mind. A quality of life.

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  • Welcome Back To Big Old Houses

    Welcome to the relaunch of Big Old Houses!

    It’s only fitting to start with the Biltmore Estate, which to this day still holds the title of being the largest house in the United States.

    What’s your favorite Big Old House?

  • Deep Thoughts, by John (John Foreman)

    I realize that writing a blog is sort of like keeping a diary and then leaving it on a park bench or a bus. Unlike a diary, I suppose I actually do want people to pick it up (figuratively) and read it.

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  • Those Two Houses And One More (John Foreman)

    I still can’t get over those 2 houses I saw yesterday – and I see a lot in Manhattan too. Both are illustrated on the web, so for those unseen persons who read my blog (you are out there, right?) here are the respective listings:

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  • Two Amazing Houses In New York (John Foreman)

    I saw two amazing houses in New York yesterday, both on a broker tour. The first was a private brownstone facing Central Park West, priced at a cool $32 million. On the outside, it looked like a fairly standard 1880s row house. Inside, it looked like the Museum of Modern Art.

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  • A Limestone Townhouse In Harlem (John Foreman)

    My firm just listed a limestone townhouse in Harlem, for a bit over $2 million bucks. It’s a beautiful place; with the same sort of woodwork I’ve got upstate at Daheim.

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  • Polarized Light Sockets (John Foreman)

    May whoever who came up with polarize light plugs be consigned to an eternity of trying to plug them into old fashioned extension cords. Since my old house was equipped with only 4 light sockets for 38 rooms – only kidding, sort of – we have a lot of extension cords.

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  • Un-modernized, Grand, And Spacious

    One of my favorite things about big, old and preferably un-modernized houses are the bathrooms. They are so grand and spacious, and the fixtures to my eyes are really pieces of industrial sculpture.

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  • Thorncrest

    My mother was from the south, and when I was a little boy she filled my head with wistful – and mostly apocryphal – tales of Louisiana plantations. She really hooked me on the big old house thing.

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