Fighting to Afford an Inherited Home

In 1963 Richard Aldrich’s grandmother died, leaving Rokeby to him and his two siblings. Rokeby is a 195-year-old, 43-room house on 420 acres. Unfortunately, their grandmother didn’t leave the three much money for the upkeep of Rokeby, and they were told that they would have to sell the house. Deeply impressioned by their grandmother’s belief in the historical value of Rokeby, the three collected money from cousins to pay for taxes that first year. Then the real work began.

Taxes are paid first (last year’s tax bill was $65,000). Then heating expenses, then repairs. Rokeby needs constant work. The roof leaks, windows are broken, the heater is ineffective, and thick layers of dust cover all the broken furniture and decorations. These things are paid for with rent from tenants in the eight houses, photoshoots, weddings, and haymaking profits.

As for the tenants, they come and go, and it’s hard to tell who lives there. Room assignments are first come, first served, and tenants will probably have to clean out old furniture and belongings before moving in. Among the people that live there, one collects rents, one does finances, one is a curator of objects, one is a writer, one does organic farming, and one creates giant puppets for New York City’s Halloween parade.

Richard is currently planning for a successor owner to the home, creating a video manual on how to care for the house. One of Richard’s siblings, Wint, said, “…it’s kind of amazing that 50 years later, Rokeby is intact, family-owned and debt-free.”

See Penelope Green, Who Lives There – In a Crumbling Estate, Creativity and History Meet, N.Y. Times, July 21, 2010.