Our first comment needs to be “NO, THIS IS NOT AN AI-GENERATED IMAGE.”
At first glance, I honestly thought someone had listed Bernards Township’s Town Hall for sale. For a moment, it looked uncannily like the old Astor Estate building in Basking Ridge, now home to Bernards Township’s municipal offices. Staring at this massive 1912 Ohio mansion with its sweeping porte cochere, deep, overhanging rooflines, timber-style detailing, and sprawling estate presence gave me a real historical double-take. The resemblance is so striking it feels like these 2 buildings were separated at birth, one planted quietly in Somerset County, New Jersey, and the other hidden away in Akron, Ohio. Same era, same grand country-estate vibe, same early-20th-century craftsmanship, same construction date, and almost the same commanding presence. It’s one of those rare “wait a second…” moments that stops a local history person dead in their tracks. One is like a “doppleganger” if you know what I mean. Then I started digging deeper.
What makes the comparison especially compelling is the atmosphere. Both the Akron estate and the Astor Estate were designed to create a sense of arrival. The sweeping approach, the covered entry, the layered rooflines, and the integration of architecture with landscaped grounds all reflect a period when homes were crafted as experiences as much as residences. Even in its current condition, the Ohio property still carries echoes of that same grandeur and ambition that once defined America’s great country estates.
Built in 1912 at the height of America’s Gilded Age, this Akron, Ohio, estate evokes many of the same architectural and social themes as New Jersey’s famed Astor Estate. Like the Astor property in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, the home was designed during an era when wealthy Americans commissioned sprawling country residences that blended elegance, craftsmanship, and retreat from city life. Though smaller in scale than the Astor mansion, the Ohio residence shares many of the same defining characteristics: expansive grounds, a grand porte cochere for arriving guests, rich wood craftsmanship, formal gathering rooms, fireplaces, sunrooms, and accommodations for both family and household staff.
Today, the Akron estate stands much like many historic mansions that survived the 20th century: weathered, partially deteriorated, but still possessing extraordinary architectural bones. Its 1.65-acre setting, detached carriage house with 7 garage bays, and surviving original details make it a rare restoration opportunity. In many ways, it represents the kind of “diamond in the rough” that preservationists and historic home enthusiasts often compare to the great estate homes of Somerset and Morris Counties in New Jersey.
Designed by architects Hagloch and Potter for M.S. Long, the 5,128-square-foot residence reflects the same early-20th-century philosophy that shaped estates across communities such as Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, and Peapack. Homes of this period were not simply houses. They were statements of status, permanence, and refinement. The Akron estate’s red oak staircase, coffered ceilings, French and pocket doors, and detailed millwork strongly resemble the handcrafted artistry found in many of New Jersey’s great country estates from the same era.
The home later became associated with Murray Parker, a colorful local figure whose varied life as cowboy, lawyer, legislator, commissioner, and restaurateur adds another layer of historical intrigue. That evolving ownership history mirrors the changing stories of estates like the Astor property, where generations of owners adapted these grand homes through shifting eras of prosperity, decline, and preservation.
Another Weird Connection
The Akron, Ohio, estate is on Maplewood Road. The Basking Ridge property, once owned by George Ludlow Lee Sr., his wife, Dulciena Harrison Smith Lee, and their son, George Ludlow Lee Jr., was originally from Maplewood, New Jersey, before the family moved into the estate in 1940. Oh, and they were both built in the SAME YEAR, 1912.
Coincidence?
Now, Basking Ridges Estate, That Was NOT Abandoned
Built in 1912, the historic Astor Estate sits high on a ridge overlooking the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township and today serves as the Bernards Township Town Hall. The massive English Tudor-style mansion was originally built for Newark pharmaceutical executive Samuel Owen and his wife, Alice, as part of their sprawling Cedar Hill Farm estate. The manor reportedly contained about 20 rooms, attached servants’ quarters, a third-floor storage and staff area, and a 3 stall garage, all surrounded by hundreds of acres that once included orchards, farmland, and what later became Ridge High School, Cedar Hill School, and War Memorial Park.
Over the decades, the estate passed through 4 prominent families: Owen, Lee, Bissell, and Astor, eventually becoming known locally as the “Astor Estate” after its final private owners, descendants of the famous Astor family. In 1968, Bernards Township purchased the property and converted the grand mansion into the township’s municipal building, preserving one of the Somerset Hills’ most iconic Gilded Age-era estates. More than a century after its construction, the brick-and-timber Tudor mansion remains one of the most recognizable historic landmarks in the region and a rare surviving example of the grand country estates that once defined northern Somerset County.
Ready for a “Fixer-Upper”? Hurry
