It was traumatic enough when the New York State Thruway slashed its way through the acreage of 999 State Route #32 decades ago, leaving the c.1870 stone and frame mansion but a stone’s throw away from the rushing cars and tractor trailers. But it was even more traumatic when fire broke through the 19th-century home last year leaving one man dead. Clyde J. Magarelli, Ph.D., a 79-year-old retired professor who had taught sociology for 50 years at William Paterson University in New Jersey, lived alone and died in the blaze. The fire was first reported by passing motorists on the Thruway in the early hours of an April morning.
A neighbor braved the flames and went into the house in an attempt to save the retired professor, but he was only able to save the man’s four dogs. Apparently, William Paterson University had forced the professor to retire a year and a half earlier as it was investigating videos that a student had put on Twitter in which the professor suggested the moon landing was fake and the Holocaust was over exaggerated. The videos and earlier controversy led to accusations that the professor was trafficking in anti-Semitic conspiracies. The kicker lies in the fact that at the time of the Holocaust denier’s death, it was Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Rembrance Day.
Mr. Magarelli’s wife died decades ago, and the couple had no children, so the mansion now lays abandoned and in ruins. It once, however, was a beautiful home. Behind fieldstone walls and iron gates, the Orange County, New York, home boasted seven bedrooms and five bathrooms, a library, multiple fireplaces, and a 1.2 acre property with garden sculptures. You may think almost $100 grand is pricey for a burned out shell, but several Highland Mills homes are currently on the market with similar acreage for $445,000 to $599,000.
999 State Route 32, Highland Mills, NY, 10930. $99,999
7bed 5bath/ 4,868sqft/ 1.2acre lot
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