The beauty and sadness of decay at Maple Grove

I started helping out at a local historic site in Poughkeepsie. I stumbled on it one day and it really is something to behold. Maple Grove was built in 1850 with additions and changes made in 1891. It is one of the very few examples of a fine Hudson Valley mansion that was built on South Road during the 19th century.  It was built by a New York Banker named Charles Macy and it would be the home of many families in the 19th century until it ended up in the hands of the Kinkead family. They would own the house up until the 1980s and willed it to the Saint Simeon Foundation, a foundation that is letting it slip away. The house was set on fire in 1985 and to this day, the servant wing is still a charred mess. The house is without pluming, electricity, or heat. It is rotting away and there are very few in Poughkeepsie who seem to know about it or care what happens to it. While I was there today, I snapped some photos of some of the decay which I found quite lovely and saddening at the same time. Much love and money is needed to get this house back into shape, but I fear that if it ever comes, it will most certainly come to late.