A castle drawn from the pages of a fairy tale is awaiting its next chapter.
Villa Keen in Irvington, with its coat of arms, stained glass doors, cathedral ceilings and stone pillar entranceway, is up for sale at $1.75 million, as per its listing with Corcoran Baer & McIntosh.
The 2.4-acre estate and its 3,502-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion dates from 1929, when it was built to fulfill Joseph Keen’s vision of a Cinderella dreamhouse for he and his wife.
Corcoran’s Adam Blankfort called the property “a castle beyond imagination. … Once you open the 15-foot-stained glass gates, you are transported to a bygone era.”
It was once home to Shirley Jones and her husband, Jack Cassidy, while they co-starred in the 1968 Broadway musical, Maggie Flynn. Their landlord was Robert Wright, an associate producer of The Carol Burnett Show.
The couple’s children, Shaun, Patrick and Ryan Cassidy, had bedrooms in the castle’s turrets. In those pre-Partridge Family days, soon-to-be heartthrob David Cassidy, Jack Cassidy’s son from a prior marriage, also spent time in the home, taking the train into Manhattan for auditions.
In a 1968 interview, Jones told The New York Times her boys attended Irvington schools and were looked after by a Swedish governess while their parents were at the theater. The couple brought their cook from Beverly Hills with them.
“Kids like small towns, and small-town living is good for them,” Jones told The Times. “They’ve made a lot of friends, they’ve seen the seasons change, and they saw snow for the first time in their lives.”
Susan Gunther, who has owned the property since 1994, is moving on after raising her three children on the estate.
Joseph Keen arrived in Irvington from Florida in the 1920s with “a child-like drawing of a Cinderella castle in his pocket,” said Gunther, referencing documents supplied by a previous owner.
Alas, Keen fell upon hard times after the home was built, and it was bought by Lloyd Stratton, president of The Associated Press.
The castle, made of stone masonry and Mediterranean-style terracotta roofing, boasts a Chesneys fireplace, high ceilings with carved wooden beams, wood and marble flooring, an oak-lined library and an attached guest house.
The property includes an inground pool, enclosed courtyard and a centuries-old beech tree with carvings said to be of Native American origin. It sits “a stone’s throw” from Halsey Pond, according to the listing.
“It’s beautiful, it’s historic, it’s unusual,” Gunther said. “There are very few castles around.”
