FOXBURG, Pa. (EYT) – One of the largest privately owned estates in Pennsylvania is up for sale, and it’s right in our local region.
Currently known as the Riverstone Estate, this 1200+ acre, multi-structured property sits along the confluence of the Clarion and Allegheny Rivers in Foxburg.
The Riverstone Estate has a long, rich history.
Around 1790, the property where the estate stands, along with the property where the borough of Foxburg currently stands, was first purchased by Samuel Mickle Fox, of Philadelphia, along with his brother-in-law Joseph Parker Norris and friend George Roberts.
In 1816, the part of the property where the estate stands was purchased by Samuel Fox’s son Joseph Mickle Fox. Joseph established a home, which first became known as the Fox Mansion, at the confluence of the Rivers ten years later to be used as a seasonal home for the Fox family.
Joseph’s son, named Samuel Mickle Fox, inherited the property, and following Joseph’s death, Samuel and his wife Hanna made the Fox Mansion into a more permanent home. Samuel’s son, also named Samuel Mickle Fox, and his wife Mary Rodman Fox then moved to Foxburg following the elder Samuel’s death.
The town of Foxburg grew up around the Fox Mansion during the later part of the 19th century.
Foxburg was founded during the oil boom in 1870, and the post office was established that year. A newsroom and stationary story were also established around the same time, and the town began to grow. Then, once the railroad came to the area, Foxburg became a getaway for many other people arriving to explore in the oil fields region. It reached its peak in the early part of the 1870s with a population of over 1,000, though it remained a village until its incorporation as a borough in 1930.
The Fox Mansion also continued to grow into more of an estate over the years, with additional structures, from outbuildings to other dwellings, being built.
Another notable aspect of the estate is actually its connection to a beloved pastime.
In 1887, Joseph M. Fox, who had made the Fox Mansion his home, brought golf to Foxburg after discovering and enjoying it while visiting Scotland and established The Foxburg Country Club. The five-hole course was increased to nine holes in 1888, and currently, the nine-hole course is considered “the longest in-continuous-use golf course in the United States.”
The former Fox Mansion finally passed out of the hands of the Fox family in 1999, when it was purchased by Dr. Arthur Steffee, a retired orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Steffee and his wife, Patricia, put a great deal of time and effort into the restoration of the property, which had fallen into some disrepair, as well as the growth of the arts in the surrounding community.
Dr. Steffee and his wife endowed the town of Foxburg with a number of buildings that house cultural and economic enterprises including The Allegheny Grille, Foxburg Inn, Foxburg Wine Cellars, Foxburg Pizza and Country Store, and the Red Brick Gallery and Gift Shop. These enterprises are a large part of what has made Foxburg into the destination that it is today.
However, though the Steffees let go of a number of buildings when they endowed them to the town, there are still 26 structures that belong to Riverstone Estate, from the original mansion itself to equestrian facilities, a greenhouse, a carriage house, and an aviary, as well as additional residences and an event center.
The Riverstone Estate, which stretches for six and a half miles along the Clarion and Allegheny Rivers, is currently available, to the right buyer, for the price of $15 million.
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