In 2015, I made the decision to embark on a short journey and discover the Rockefeller Mansion in Fort Bragg, which was long since deserted. And what a thrilling experience it was! We went in with the knowledge that we would be on military land, but prior to entering, multiple service members gave us their word that everything would be fine. The directions were sent to me through text message by a serviceman stationed at Fort Bragg. Back in the woods, we got lost not once but twice. The directions were worded in a manner similar to this: turn onto the gravel road at the electricity box.
When you reach the fork in the road, bear right. At the downed tree, take a left turn. Take the next right after you’ve passed the first road. It took some time, but we were finally successful in our search!!! And what do you think? There were soldiers present who were mapping out the coordinates. However, they were as kind as they possibly could be, and they let us stay. They even suggested other places and attractions for us to check out. Once more, this was in the year 2015. I’m not sure whether anything has changed since I was last out there. I got the impression through word of mouth that it might be cordoned off at this point.
Where did this place come from?? This property was once owned by the Overhills family. They had kennels for all of the fox hunting dogs, an indoor pool, horse stables, tennis courts, and a polo field in addition to a golf course that had been created by Donald Ross. The Rockefeller Mansion was the largest home in the neighborhood. Percy Rockefeller was the one who constructed it. They mostly used it as their get-away during the Thanksgiving holiday. On the grounds, they carried out a significant amount of fox hunting. There was also a dorm room on the top level of the Rockefeller Mansion for all of the household staff.
The Harriman Cottage was located in the vicinity of the Rockefeller Mansion. What exactly was Averell Harriman’s role? After serving as President Truman’s Secretary of Commerce, he went on to become the Governor of New York. The topic of hunting was the source of a major disagreement between Percy and Averell. While Averell was more interested in hunting birds, Percy was more interested in hunting foxes. It appears that Mr. Harriman’s bird hunting was disrupted on multiple times by the dogs that belong to Percy. Mr. Harriman upped and departed, selling his home before he disappeared forever. During our tour, we were able to go inside Mr. Harriman’s cottage. That one was far more to our liking than the bigger Rockefeller home.
Following an operation to treat ulcers in his stomach, Percy passed away at the early age of 57. Even after he passed away, his wife never stopped coming to Overhills. Even after she passed away, members of her family continued to pay her memorial visits, with the most recent ones coming in the 1990s.
The United States Army ultimately decided to acquire the property in the 1990s. There was even discussion about transforming it into a southern version of Camp David. In the end, it was put to use for some kind of specialized training. When you are inside, you will notice that some of the walls have bullet holes in them. As I mentioned before, on the day that we were there, members of the Air Force were patrolling the area in all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). They stated that they were plotting coordinates on the map.
Seeing a piece of the Rockefeller family’s history in such a state of disrepair is extremely upsetting when one considers the illustrious status of the Rockefeller name. It would appear that a more beneficial application could have been discovered for this land.
