I’d driven past this several times. This time I decided to stop and take a closer look. I have no idea what it is/was. The sign “628 1010. Call Larry Zacks for appointment” is intriguing. I liked the textures of the wood though, and the crazy angles. Looks like it’s going to fall over at any moment.

My wife is away in Europe visiting kids and grandkids. So I’ve been going for longer walks (around two hours rather than the usual one hour) and venturing farther afield. This time (the dog, Jackson and myself) went for a walk in the woods just off route 9d north of Cold Spring. This is what we came across. I discovered from my research that this is the old Stern/Cornish Mansion: Northgate, arguably the most extensive set of ruins in the Hudson Valley.

You can see the patio/terrace in the second picture. The view must have been amazing – out across the Hudson to Storm King mountain on the other side. You get some sense of it in the third picture. This was actually taken lower down because the view from the patio was almost completely blocked by trees, which I’m sure wouldn’t have been there at the time the mansion was occupied. They would have grown since.

Very interesting walk. The Hudson Valley Ruins site has more info on these ruins here.  There are also some photos of how the mansion looked in it’s heyday.

The Patio/Terrace

View across to Storm King

Porte Cochere in the background

Old Chimney

Through a window

Chimney seen through an arch

Abandoned outbuilding

Ruined greenhouse

Indian Brook Falls is very close to Constitution Marsh. In fact you use the same parking area. I’d been driving past here on route 9d for years and never knew that it was here. That’s probably because it’s not at all well marked. I don’t believe there’s a sign on route 9d. Even when you get to the rather out of the way parking area you’ll find signs to Constitution Marsh but not to Indian Brook Falls. There are really only two ways you could go: right to Constitution Marsh and left. So I guessed left. This took me under the route 9d bridge. Just after the bridge there is an old gate with a trail on the other side. This trail goes down a little and then curves to the right with a moss covered wall on your right. Don’t be tempted follow the trail to the right. Instead when you get to the end of the wall you’ll see a small path going down to your left. Follow this path and it will take you down to the brook. Keep going for a couple of minutes and you’ll find the falls. It’s worth it. I believe there’s some kind of romantic story associated with the falls. Something to do with an Indian maid and her doomed relationship with a western guy, but I haven’t been able to discover the details.

I initially missed the path going down to the brook and ended up going on a fairly lengthy walk in the woods. It wasn’t a complete loss though as I came across the old, partially ruined building below. I have no idea what it is/was.

Detail of route 9d bridge

Trail and mossy Wall

Indian Brook Falls

Interesting old building in the woods