After spotting some ruins in the hills overlooking the Palisades,  ScoutingNY.com published an online pictorial of a once great mansion on the Hudson. The website — which has nothing to do with the Boy Scouts and everything to do with scouting movie locations — offers this teasing description:

Every time I drive the Palisades north, I notice this strange castle-like structure whiz past out my window, clearly the ruins of something. It kept bugging me each time I drove by until finally, I had to stop and figure out what it was.

I found a place to park near the highway and came across a trail that seemed to be leading to the structure.  It took about 15 minutes of walking, and then I saw it through the trees. A fascinating two story stone castle-like structure set into the hillside overlooking the Hudson.

But what was it? An old fort?  I’m not sure what I was expecting’€¦But later on, when I found out [what this was] I was blown away.

ScoutingNY stumbled upon the ruins of Zabriskie mansion Cliffdale Manor, built in 1911. Zabriskie hailed from one of Bergen County’s wealthiest and most prominent families and worked as a NY representative for the Pillsbury Flour Mills. You can see ScoutingNY‘s pictures and a detailed history of the mainsion from the NJPalisades.org by following the links.

See also: “History of the NJ Palisades,” LostInNJ blog