The Curiosities behind the Vestal Castlehouse

Location: Vestal, NY

Status: Demolished

The Town of Vestal is widely known across New York State as being the home for numerous local sites spanning from the Rail Trail and the Kopernik Science Center to Binghamton University and beyond. Despite these locations, there was one site on Route 26 that many commuters have driven past and might have not known anything about until it gained media attention shortly before its demise. This unique structure that sat on the side of the highway for many years was actually from another era of the town. This era was from when farms were thriving in the area to where it spanned as far down as the Pennsylvanian border. What was this building’s purpose and what made it so unique? Why did it get so much attention shortly before its demise despite it not being well known? All these questions and more will be answered as we take a look behind the curiosities of the Vestal Castlehouse.

At the beginning of the 19th century, many areas surrounding the Susquehanna River were rich with fertile soil. This, along with an abundance of natural resources, encouraged locals to start fishing, lumbering, and even build farms around the area as these once dense forests grew into wide open lands. As time went on, many of these family-owned farms began growing different types of grains while raising pigs, sheep, and cattle to produce goods for the community. Some of these local farmlands included the VanDervort Dairy Farm, the Hazard Lewis Farm, and the Brookvale Dairy Farm.

The Brookvale Dairy Farm was once owned by Vincent O’Hara and operated between the 1890s to 1940s. The O’Hara family were local to the area and owned other farmland within the community. The O’Hara property consisted of the family home, a large barn, a creamery, and a tool shed. Throughout Brookvale Dairy’s lifespan, the farm was famous for their Grade A pasteurized and raw milk as they not only produced the milk with their own herds but with 12 other dairies that were no more than 15 minutes from the farm. The milk was received both night and morning and immediately put through the pasteurization process while maintaining a delivery system that once covered every street in the triple cities. The Brookvale Dairy Farm even won the coveted diploma from the New York State Fair Association in September of 1934 for their excellent dairy products while they competed with hundreds of other dairy farms across the state.

Unfortunately, the farmland would fall victim to a large fire in 1942 that wiped out most of the property except for the O’Hara’s homestead. According to the Binghamton Press:

‘Mr. Vincent O’Hara discovered the blaze at 5:15pm Saturday night while milking cows in the basement of the barn. Meanwhile passengers from an Endicott bus left the vehicle and aided Mr. O’Hara in removing more than 50 purebred cattle and several pigs.’

Along with these volunteers, 50 firefighters from three communities spent six and a half hours trying to put out the fire on the property. In the end, most of the buildings were a total loss as the homestead was the only structure that survived on the land since it was barely 30 feet away. Vincent estimated the overall damage at $50,000. The O’Hara family soon sold the property and moved to Florida where Vincent spent the rest of his life.

What was left of the Brookvale Dairy Farm soon was converted into housing by the various owners as families lived in the former O’Hara homestead for several years. This building eventually became known over the years as the Vestal Castlehouse as a stone turret was placed on the front side of the building, making it look like a castle. Remains of the former farm lingered around the property as some have found old milk bottles from when it was in business.

Eventually, one of the owners had plans to convert the structure into a four-family complex where they would section off parts of the inside of the building. The owner converted it into a two-family complex instead due to the town not approving of the idea. Families continued living in this structure while unknowingly aware of its slowly deteriorating state.

As the years passed, the structure would soon become a victim of demolition by neglect as different parts of the property started to rot. It wasn’t until 2022 when new owners purchased the property that anyone would become aware of this. One of the new owners, Bill, mentioned that a contractor came into the property to look around and that’s how he found out the house was slowly splitting apart, “I had an inspector here as well and when he came in, he immediately left in fear because he thought the building would fall at that moment.” It turned out the wooden beams that were supporting the house were rotted and corroded. With this new information, the new owners were forced to tell the current residents that they must move out of the property. By early 2023, the former O’Hara homestead was no more.

Before the building was demolished, many members of the community encouraged the new owners of the property to not tear it down despite not knowing much about the property. While many of these people didn’t know about its small historical background as Brookvale Farm, the reason why the former homestead must be saved (according to them) was because of its short appearance in Taylor Swift’s ‘Back to December’ music video. Many regarded the structure as historical for this context and not for the dairy farm it was years ago. Different media outlets covered this controversy, and it eventually got to the point where the owners told the public why the building needed to come down. In the end, renovations to the property would have cost the couple $600,000 to fix along with a new foundation and beams to keep the house up. Others wanted to preserve the building because of its unique turret. Come to find out, the turret was a fake stone facade and the other side was just wood. It was at this point that everyone knew the building must come down.

Luckily, the new owners, Bill and Felicia, have plans for the now vacant property. They plan on opening an outdoor eatery called Funky Beez (the name comes from the fact the couple are beekeepers and they think bees are funky). Funky Beez will serve Berks all-beef hot dogs with a choice of 30 different toppings along with various flavors of Hershey’s hard and soft ice creams and “Large Freaky Shakes” that will be loaded with toppings and cotton candy art. While there are plans for a patio in the front, a large playground and many other things will be available for children and pets in the back. Since there are big plans behind this project, it will take a while for the eatery to open according to the owners.

One lesson I've learned while doing research for these blogs is that many abandoned places have fallen to demolition by neglect after years of not being taken care of and instead just rotting from the inside out by nature’s elements. Unfortunately, the former Brookvale Dairy Farm/ Vestal Castlehouse met the same fate. While many people were protesting for the structure to be saved, I was given a tour of the inside of the building to see its condition. After the tour, I agreed that it was best for the building to be demolished. While I’m usually for preserving and hoping abandoned structures are given a new life, it was not possible with this one. Despite this, I’m happy the property as a whole will be given new life soon enough.

This has been the story behind the Vestal Castlehouse.

*While doing my research for this entry, I found an old advertisement in the 'Binghamton Press' for Brookvale Dairy milk. I also found the article that talks about the fire. I've also included a photo of one of the old milk bottles someone found years ago. All of these are available in the photo gallery.