Jack was really itching to get out on a walk, so my daughter and I took him down the road from our house on a sunny afternoon.  It wasn't long before we came across a very old forest path which, at one time, long ago, had been a road.  Jack was game for anything and we needed the excercise so we headed up the path to see what we could see.

I saw something ahead in the woods and as we got closer, we realized that it was a hand laid stone foundation.  The largest I'd ever seen!  There was no longer a building there, but the foundation seemed to be completely in tact.  And it was enormous!

Foundation had squared off corners and one side was rounded, for, perhaps, a big bay window?  It was at least fifteen feet at it's highest point.

Once we walked around to the front of what had been a building, we found a beautiful old stone gazebo!

Which, of course, Jack found to be quite fascinating!

When we got home, I called my friend Carroll, who also happens to be my landlady and has lived in the area for over 20 years.  I asked her what the foundation had been.  She told me that it was the "Old Ballentine Mansion" from the Ballentine family of New York State.  They owned Ballentine Beer.  The house was built in the 1800's and was torn down by the family in the 1950's.  Carroll said that when she had seen it 20 years ago, the wooden pillars still stood out front and there was nothing but a pile of brick rubble and old rotting woodwork.  It's such a shame that it no longer stands.  History fascinates me and this would have been a real find!

The picture on the left is the old driveway leading up to the mansion and on the right is a structure that is out in front of the house.  We aren't quite sure what it was.  Maybe a carriage house.