Unfortunately, I didn't know much more than the inquisitive emailers. That is until my men's breakfast buddy, Carl Joorman, a former New Gretna resident presently living at the Four Seasons at Harbor Bay in Little Egg Harbor, gave me a copy of the Harbor Bay Breeze, a monthly newsletter published by the adult community.
The July, 2012 edition of the Breeze contained an article and photos of the New Gretna mansion. It seems that John Ways and Arnold Scharfstein, who collaborate on a monthly story and photo column, were getting repeated questions from Harbor Bay residents concerning the mansion. The dynamic duo decided that a story on the mansion was in order.
I met John and Arnold the other day for lunch to get the skinny on how they got their story and photos. They graciously shared their adventure at the mansion with me.
One day they decided to stop at the mansion and take photos of the statuary. As Arnold was poking the telephoto lens of his Nikon through the iron gate, Adalid Gomez, the caretaker of the property, walked up to them and asked what they were doing. After hearing their explanation, he invited them onto the property and introduced them to the property's owner, Byung Taek Kim.
Mr. Kim proved a friendly, hospitable host and took John and Arnold on a tour of the property. The following story and photos evolved from that tour.
The Wonderful
Many of youhave driven up or down Route 9 on your way to or from the
The author, John Ways, standing by the steam engineat one of the gates to the property
We learned that this property wasonce a farm owned by Benjamin Franklin Headley in the mid to late 1800's andlater owned by the Bush family. Then in 1970 it was purchased by Eddie Sims ofBrigantine who decided to restore the farmhouse and enjoy the property for hisown use. It seems that Eddie owned some worthless bay property in Brigantinewhich Harrah's Casino decided to buy. With his new found wealth, Eddiepurchased the farm and started renovations in 1970.
The property was abandoned some 15years ago so Mr. Kim, of
Byung Taek KimOur tour started in the rear of thehouse on the north side where we saw a large raised, covered wooden dog runapproximately 100 feet for a collie and a German shepherd. It included a largedog bed with brass header and footer and other amenities for the dogs. On ourright was an amazing 75 foot replica of the famed Korean Turtle Ship builtby Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the Japanese invasion of
Turtle ShipA little farther toward the rear weentered a large enclosed area that included numerous chickens. Although thechickens were roaming outdoors, there were two new large hen houses with glassdoors and a pond within this enclosure. We think the chickens were of theAraucanas or Ameraucanas breeds because they were laying blue eggs. Our laststop at the rear of the property was a lake with clear blue water, a dock witha ladder and a large covered but open cabana with seating facing the lake.Although this lake was stocked with bass, there were others stocked withgoldfish and koi.
On the north side of the propertywas the barn which housed Batman, ablack stallion who had a large fenced in pasture in which to run and play. Mr.Kim enjoys riding and he rides Batman around the property on his riding path.
BatmanNear the mainhouse, which has completed renovations, is a large swimming pool with a woodenbridge spanning across the middle of it. On one side of the pool is a threestory castle-like building with place for pool furniture storage and otheritems. Along the side of this structure is a waterfall that straddles the leftside of the structure. On the top are two bright metallic knights and inbetween is an elephant head.
The three story main house on thesouth side of the property was built in three phases and has been renovated toMr. Kim's specifications. Around the back there are various sculptures sittingatop the pillars of the rear fence. On one side is a vegetable garden; on theother a fully lighted tennis court. In front of the house is a bright reddragon accompanied by two stone angels. On one side is a 20 foot giraffe alongwith four smaller ones.
In front ofthe house and in its garage are 400 year old sculptures including pagodas,Buddhas in stone and brass, and Christian sculptures of Christ and angels, 15foot black stallions, and colored dragons that are awaiting placement. Thesesculptures come from
Arnold and I thoroughly enjoyed ourtour and are so grateful for Mr. Kim's hospitality.
Reprinted with permission from the Harbor Bay Breeze.
I hear various opinions from local residents regarding Mr. Kim's whimsical endeavor. As for me, I think he is a welcomed addition to our community. I always smile when I pass the mansion, and I look forward to what the future might bring.
Well, that's the scoop on the mansion. Perhaps, now, I won't be getting any more email inquiries.
Pete S
PS- Click on the photo of the mansion below to read a previous Blog post that provides some background information on the mansion property.
Following are a few photos that I took today.
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A close-up view of all the advantages offered atthe brand-new Lincroft Acme.
And how about this for our final image... a look inside the Lincroft Acme on Grand Opening day! There's some very interesting things going on in here. Namely the department signage. First off, we can see "Lancaster" on the back wall over the Meat Department. The letters are done in the style of the Colonial Decor package. This clashes with the department signs above Bakery and Dairy. Those signs are modeled after the fish-eye logo. I'm finding all of this confusing as I had thought both signage designs seen here would have come after 1960. Putting together such a timeline of store interior this far back is tricky of course with such little concrete evidence in existence today. I assumed the fish-eye department signage was rolled out for the pitched-roof stores which officially debuted after this store opened. (There is just one example of this signage on the blog from the Clayton pitched-roof store. Click here to have look.) Perhaps the "Lancaster"lettering here eventually lead to the Colonial Decor package which I believe started in the late 60's. 
Check out the former Red Bank Acmes by clicking here. 
