Rhinebeck, N.Y. (AP) – A dilapidated mansion in New York believed to have inspired the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses” is on the auction block. The Poughkeepsie Journal reports the 24-room Wyndclyffe Castle will be auctioned Wednesday.
The mansion was built in 1853 in Rhinebck as the country house of Manhattan socialite Elizabeth Schermerhorn Jones, a member of a wealthy family and aunt of American novelist Edith Wharton. The property’s elegance is said to have prompted owners of nearby Hudson Valley estates to build even bigger mansions, giving birth to the idiom “Keeping up with the Joneses.” Wyndclyffe fell into disrepair under various owners and was abandoned in the 1950s. It was purchased in 2003 and is being put up for sale by its owner. The assessed value is nearly $313,000.
