Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that answer the question.
Query: Is Rockwood Hall still standing?
Chase National Bank had acquired Rockwood's mortgage and began foreclosing on the property. In 1938, John Jr. purchased Rockwood Hall Country Club and its 220 acres from Chase Bank for $244,374 in bankruptcy court.[29] By 1941, John Jr. found no use for the site and its buildings were deteriorating severely, so he prepared to demolish the buildings. In late 1941 and early 1942, John Jr. ordered the demolition of the mansion, coachhouse, greenhouses, powerhouse, barn, chicken house, pigeonhouse, sheds, and boathouse; only excluding the two gatehouses. Debris was to be dumped into the Hudson River, and care was taken to not damage the property's retaining walls, trees, shrubs, roads, and terraces.[3] The last remaining structures are the gatehouse on U.S. Route 9 and the terraced foundation of the mansion.[2]
The house's architecture inspired the design of the Sacred Heart Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was built from 1864 to 1867 by Thomas Sargent as a private home for William C. Neff. The Cincinnati building is described as a "copy reversed left-to-right" of Rockwood Hall.[35] The likely intermediate sources for Sargent were images published in Villas on the Hudson, by A. A. Turner.[6]
In 1998, Rockefeller gave the 88 acre property to the Laurence S. Rockefeller Fund, with half of the fund's interest donated to New York State and half to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.[2] At the time, the land was one of few large undeveloped tracts left on the lower Hudson River.[1] New York State subsequently purchased Memorial Sloan Kettering's portion (appraised at $26.8 million[1]) in order to fully own Rockwood Hall.[2]
The Rockwood Hall club was building up debts, especially during the Great Depression, which began in 1929.[3] The club was ultimately not financially successful, and declared bankruptcy in 1936.[2] During the summer of 1937, Rockwood Hall Country Club leased the house and grounds to the Washington Irving Country Club and the coachhouse and stable to the Washington Irving Theater during Rockwood's foreclosure suit.[29] The coachhouse and stable were remodeled and began showing summer productions beginning in 1938 and ending by 1940.[3]
In 1927, Rockefeller's nephew John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased 450 acres across Route 9 from Rockwood.[25] In the following year, the Rockwood Hall club sold 166.5 acres of its own land east of Route 9 to John Jr., in order to settle or reduce two of its mortgages.[26] By 1928, the club was profitable enough to plan to expand its property; the club planned for a second golf course on an adjacent property, as well as adjustments to most of its existing course and construction of four tennis courts and an outdoor pool.[27] In the same year, Frederic N. Gilbert was removed as a member of the country club for allegedly trying to obtain control of it. Frank Harris Hitchcock was President of the club at the time, and had been the club's first president. Gilbert took legal action against the club.[28]
After Joseph Shipley's death, Rockwood eventually became the property of his great nephew Edward Bringhurst Jr. in 1891. Bringhurst with his wife Anna and their three younger children Mary, Edith and Edward moved into Rockwood the next year. The Bringhurst's eldest daughter Elizabeth Bringhurst Galt Smith, affectionately known as Bessie, was married and living in a castle in Ireland at the time. Bessie was responsible for much of the decorative features of the Mansion during this period. The mansion currently represents the 1890s when the Bringhurst family moved into Rockwood, though much of Joseph Shipley's furniture (imported from England) is still is in place at Rockwood.
Artists who have performed at Rockwood include Lady Gaga, Jessie J, Giselle Bellas, Mumford & Sons, and Billie Joe Armstrong.
When it reopened in 1913 as a junior college, Southwest Baptist College consisted of four buildings, three of which still stand on the Stufflebam campus. Among the buildings still standing from the original Stufflebam campus are Casebolt Apartments (formerly Casebolt Science Building), Memorial Hall, Maupin Hall and Ingman Hall.
The historic district extends along Rockwood Road from Boardman Street southeasterly, ending just before the railroad tracks. Although the latter were important to the community's growth, and there is still a commuter rail stop there, it no longer has a historic station house. Most of the buildings in the district are residences built between about 1850 and 1900, although there are examples of older and newer buildings. The oldest buildings in the district are probably Mann House at 16 Rockwood Road (c. 1806), and the Darius Ware House at 29 Rockwood Road, which dates to about 1814. The only originally non-residential building in the district is the Norfolk Grange Hall, which was built as a Baptist church in 1863, and was the first church to be built away from the historic Town Hill area.
The Rockwood Homeowners' Association (RHA) is a community group composed of homeowners living within the Rockwood Village. The Association was founded in 1997 and is focused on resolving community issues and improving resident living. The Rockwood Homeowners' Association provides residents with information on community living and events through the publishing of their quarterly newsletter, "The Rockwood Times". The newsletter is published by the Rockwood Homeowners' Association board members and is provided to all residents living within the Rockwood Village. The Rockwood Homeowners' Association holds an Annual General Meeting for all community members to attend.
In 2014 and 2015, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, a nearby non-profit farm, tended sheep and goats at Rockwood Hall. The effort was described as an experiment in land management to improve landscape health and ecosystem function, as well as possibly to increase access to land for beginning farmers by allowing them access to parks and other public lands.[36] During the project, a shepherd would rotate the flock every few days through a series of paddocks, coaxing the animals to graze invasive plants like akebia and porcelain berry. The project gave the center additional land and forage for sheep, and helped control invasive plants and improve soil health. Local supporters of the project included New York Life, which supplied water, and the nearby retirement community Kendal on Hudson.[37] From July to November 2014, the farm tended 50 sheep and 7 goats in the pastures of Rockwood Hall.[36] In 2015, 10 Boer goats, 30 Tunis sheep, and 50 Finn Dorset sheep were moved to Rockwood Hall to graze.[36]
Rockwood practiced plural marriage and fathered 22 children. He died in Sugar House, Utah Territory, at his home on Elizabeth Street at approximately 1200 East and 2500 in Salt Lake City, Utah (no longer standing), where he was surrounded by his family and friends.
In the late 19th century, a stone marker was placed every mile east of the courthouse in Portland, resulting in a "Base Line Road" along the Willamette Baseline: Rockwood developed at the 10-mile mark, in a rocky and wooded area that was later the inspiration for the name of the community. A Ten-Mile Inn located in present-day Rockwood became a stagecoach stop, a junction that also attracted a school, a grange hall, a church, a grocery store, among other businesses.
During Rockwood Hall's inhabitance, the property had three entrances. Two had stone gatehouses on one side of the entrance, while the third, the center gate, only had oak trees around the road, and led to the principle driveway to the stables and mansion.[34] The main entrance gate has an old milestone within the wall, reading "Thirty miles from City Hall, New York City".[17]
Both the Rockwood Area Elementary School and the Rockwood Area Junior/Senior High School are located within the Borough of Rockwood. A second elementary school within the Rockwood School District is the Kingwood Elementary School, however this elementary school is not within the Borough of Rockwood. It is closed now, and was sold to the Kingwood Church of God.
The Rockwood Road Historic District encompasses a portion of the town center of Norfolk, Massachusetts that has retained significant 19th-century characteristics. It extends along Rockwood Road (Massachusetts Route 115) from the MBTA Commuter Rail line to Boardman Street. This area consists mainly of residential or former residential buildings, as well as the 1863 Norfolk Grange Hall, a former church, and is reflective of the center's growth as a railroad village. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
One entrance had a swinging metal gate on two granite posts, next to a relatively undecorated gatehouse. The drive from the gate to the house took a visitor along a slightly ascending and winding road, through a grove of elms, to the east of Rockwood Hall.[10]
The secondary school which served this area from 1958 was Ward End Hall Secondary Modern; later known as Ward End Hall County Secondary School, before finally being renamed Park View Upper School in 1983 when it catered solely for 4th and 5th year senior pupils, and sixth-formers (or Year 10, 11, 12 and 13s as they are known these days). Park View Lower School was the name given to the next closest secondary school, Naseby, after the two schools amalgamated in the mid-1980s. However, whether it was due to lack of demand for places or just financial problems, the former Ward End Hall School was closed down and demolished in the mid-1990s. A housing estate now stands on the siteof the former school. Park View School was renamed Rockwood Academy in 2015. In addition to Rockwood Academy, there is a secondary education establishment quite locally at Washwood Heath (Washwood Heath Academy) and two more in Hodge Hill (Hodge Hill College; and Hodge Hill Girls' School, a former grammar school).
Rockwood became the club team's head coach in 1989 and led them to two Western National Collegiate Club soccer Association (NCCSA) Championships in 1993 and 1994. In 1995 BYU officially recognized women's soccer as a NCAA sport. Rockwood was retained and became the Cougars first NCAA women's soccer coach. Rockwood began to have immediate success. In her 19 years as head coach, Rockwood's Cougars have made the NCAA tournament 16 times. In the October 19, 2013 match vs. the San Francisco Dons, Rockwood would amass her 300th win. Twice Rockwood has led the Cougars to the NCAA's Elite 8: 2003 and 2012. Athletes playing for Rockwood have seen continual success over those 19 seasons. 38 of Rockwood's players have gone on to win All-American awards.
Importer and merchant Edwin Bartlett obtained the property around 1848, demolished the farmhouse,[3] and built Rockwood, an English Gothic castle of locally-quarried stone.[2][5] Bartlett hired Gervase Wheeler to design the house, which was built in 1849.[6]
Bartlett sold the house to his business partner William Henry Aspinwall in 1860; Aspinwall made it his summer home and improved the property and house, and purchased enough land to make his estate 200 acres (81ha).[2] Aspinwall would often travel from New York City to the property via his yacht Firefly, which he could moor to his dock at Rockwood Hall.[7]
Rockwood was born in Holliston, Massachusetts to Luther Rockwood and Ruth Perry, Rockwood. He married Nancy Ruth Haven on April 4, 1827. His interests were temperance, anti-slavery, military tactics and medicine. His wife Nancy Haven was a first cousin to Brigham Young and Willard Richards. In 1836, Brigham Young and Joseph Young stayed at the Rockwood home in Holliston, Mass. (still standing) and left a copy of the Book of Mormon with Albert, who went by "AP," and Nancy.
Laurance sold 80 acres of the property to IBM in 1970; New York Life later operated out of the site. Laurance had planned to donate Rockwood Hall to New York State, and made the IBM sale to offset the loss of tax revenue to the town of Mount Pleasant.[2] During Laurence's ownership of the remaining land, he made the space available to the public for hiking, fishing, and other recreation.[1]
Rockefeller intended the house to be his summer retreat, yet in his later years it became his year-round home.[13] In 1922, Rockefeller died within Rockwood Hall,[20] leaving the property empty. His funeral took place in Rockwood Hall, with a service by the rector of Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, which Rockefeller regularly attended.[21] The gates of the estate were closed and guarded by policemen during the affair.[20]
Rockefeller's heirs put the property up for sale, however no individual buyer could be found. At this point, the mansion was closed, its furnishings were removed, and about 20 caretakers were tending to the property. The first breakup of his property was a sale to Frank Vanderlip. In 1924, Vanderlip purchased 57 acres of Rockwood Hall's riverfront property to add to his estate, Beechwood.[22] The bulk of the estate was purchased that same year by a group of investors, who formed Rockwood Hall, Inc.[2] Their company purchased the property (with 210 acres west of Route 9 and 600 acres east) for around $1 million.[17] The group converted the estate into a country club with a golf course, a swimming pool, and other facilities.[2] The company formed Rockwood Hall Country Club and took out a mortgage with the Equitable Trust Company of New York, which was acquired by Chase Bank in 1930.[3] Its 18-hole golf course was designed by Emmet & Tull in 1929.[23] Rockwood Hall Country Club hired noted Australian golfer Joe Kirkwood Sr. to be the club's first golf professional.[24]