Castles of "United States" KIMBERLY CREST vs KIP'S CASTLE PARK

Kimberly Crest House and Gardens is a French château-style Victorian mansion located in Redlands, California. The property is a registered California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house was built in 1897 for Mrs Cornelia A. Hill, one of the pioneers of Redlands. In 1905, John Alfred Kimberly, a co-founder of the Kimberly-Clark paper company, purchased the home to escape the Wisconsin winters, giving the family name to the property. When the Kimberly family purchased the property in 1905, Mrs Kimberly had the Italian gardens installed on the property. The family celebrated the holidays at the property with a 90-foot (27 m) magnolia tree adorned with 6000 watts of light. The Kimberly family continued to live in the home until the death in 1979 of Mary Kimberly Shirk, the widowed daughter of John Alfred Kimberly. Before her death, Mrs Shirk challenged the city of Redlands to raise the funds to purchase 39 acres (0.06 sq mi; 0.16 km2) of the property around the home and turn it into a botanical park. If the funds were raised, she promised to bequeath the mansion and the estate of 6.25 acres (0.01 sq mi; 0.03 km2) immediately around it to the city. The city raised the funds, and the surrounding grounds became known as Prospect Park. At her death, Mrs Shirk left the home to "the people of Redlands" and, using the proceeds from the sale to the city of the Prospect Park property, established the Kimberly-Shirk Association, which continues to care for the home today. Prior to the conversion to a museum, the mansion served as one of the filming locations for the 1981 movie Hell Night, starring Linda Blair. In the film, tunnels were depicted, but the house and the estate have no such feature. Later, the grounds served as the setting of Fleetwood Mac's Big Love video. Shots depicting the inside of the home were filmed on a sound stage.

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Kip's Castle, is a 10-acre (40,000 m2) estate (8 acres in Verona, 2 acres (8,100 m2) in Montclair) on the ridge of First Mountain, on the border of Montclair and Verona townships. It contains a 9,000-square-foot (840 m2) mansion that replicates a medieval Norman castle, and a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) two-story carriage house. Originally built as a private residence, current plans for the estate include housing offices for various administrative functions for Essex County. However, the Castle's true purpose is to evolve into the County's premiere cultural resource center, supporting and promoting arts and culture throughout our region. Meeting space will be available for conservancies, community groups, and non-profit organizations. A calendar of ongoing educational programming will be developed, and museum space will be created to showcase the history of the Essex County Park System. A twelve-member Advisory Board has been formed to provide recommendations about not only how to maintain and restore the estate, but also to develop ideas as to how this property can grow into a cultural asset for the community. Kip's Castle, originally known as "Kypsburg," was constructed over a three-year period in the early 1900s by Frederic Ellsworth Kip and his wife, Charlotte Bishop Williams Kip. Frederic was a wealthy textile inventor and industrialist who also published several books related to United States tariff laws. Charlotte is credited for the design of the "Kypsburg" building and grounds, cultivating an octagonal rose garden in the southwest corner of the property. After Charlotte's passing in 1926, the estate was sold and went through several owners, including Indian guru Osho in the 1980s, serving as a monastery. The building and grounds fell into a state of dilapidation until the law firm of Schwartz, Tobia & Stanziale purchased the property in 1985. Up until 2005 a considerable amount of work was done to restore the Castle to its original grandeur. In the early 2000s, The lawfirm wanted to develop townhouses on the property, however, found itself in various legal complications and lawsuits with Verona, and in 2006, the property was placed on the market. As a result of grants from the NJ Green Acres Program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund, the County of Essex purchased Kip's Castle in March 2007. The property is now part of the historic Essex County Park System. Offices for the County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Committee and Essex County Park Foundation will be located in the castle, which is also a meeting site for the twelve-member Kip's Castle Park Advisory Board appointed by the County Executive to provide guidance about the maintenance, restoration, activities, and growth of the facility as another asset for the Essex community. According to the county brochure, over time, Kip's Castle Park will become the County's premiere cultural resource center, supporting and promoting arts and culture throughout the region. Meeting space will be available for community groups, and non-profit organizations. A calendar of ongoing educational programming will be developed, and museum space will be created to showcase the history of the Essex County Park System.

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