The Ellsworth Manor on Hawthorne Square

The Ellsworth family moved into Hawthorne Square in 1915 after industrial engineer Benjamin Ellsworth inherited enough capital to commission the expansive manor. Benjamin, his wife Margaret, their three children, and Benjamin’s widowed sister occupied the residence while income came from a regional company producing railway signaling equipment. Local accounts described the home as one of the neighborhood’s finest, known for its spacious library, music room, and formal dining hall.

Throughout the late 1910s and early 1920s, the property remained carefully maintained, with household records reflecting stable finances and consistent upkeep.

The first warning appeared in 1929 when railway construction contracts were cancelled after the stock market collapse. Benjamin reduced staff, dismissed the gardener, and closed several upper bedrooms to lower heating costs. Repairs to the slate roof, gutters, and bowed oriel window were postponed while unpaid property taxes accumulated beside overdue business loans. After Benjamin died unexpectedly in 1933, disagreements among heirs delayed any settlement. By 1936, foreclosure proceedings forced Margaret and the remaining family members to leave Hawthorne Square, taking only essential possessions before the house was locked.

The Ellsworth Manor has remained abandoned since 1936. Although several prospective buyers inspected the property before the Second World War, no restoration was completed and ownership became increasingly uncertain through unresolved legal claims. Municipal inspection records later documented continuing structural deterioration, but no family member returned to reclaim the residence. Furniture, documents, and household objects gradually weathered inside the sealed rooms while seasonal moisture accelerated decay. Today the manor still overlooks Hawthorne Square, standing empty as its condition slowly declines with no confirmed plans for preservation or renewed occupation.