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Hidden History: The Fireproof Castle of the Rock Lodge Club

Tucked away in the dense woods of Stockholm (Sussex County), behind a set of wooden gates, sits one of New Jersey’s most misunderstood historic sites.

It is a castle-like stone mansion built to withstand the apocalypse. It was designed by a survivor of the Johnstown Flood and the San Francisco Earthquake. And today? It serves as the centerpiece for the Rock Lodge Club, a historic, family-oriented nudist cooperative with a fascinating backstory.

The Man Who Feared Fire

To understand the house, you must understand the builder: Abraham Lincoln Artman (A.L.A.) Himmelwright.

Born in 1865 (the year Lincoln was assassinated), Himmelwright was a renaissance man: a civil engineer, an author, and a champion marksman. As the General Manager of the Roebling Construction Company (the firm famous for the Brooklyn Bridge), he was obsessed with structural integrity.

His obsession was born of trauma. Himmelwright survived two of America’s deadliest disasters. He witnessed the 1889 Johnstown Flood and visited San Francisco immediately after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. These events convinced him that the ideal home must be indestructible.

The “Model Fire-Proof Farmhouse”

In 1904, Himmelwright bought 47 acres of timberland in Sussex County. He dredged a pond (fed by 17 underwater springs) and began construction on his fortress.

Completed in 1907, the Stone House was an engineering marvel.

• Materials: Built of local granite with a poured concrete roof and interior walls of brick and cement. There was almost no wood used in the structure.
• Safety: It featured a state-of-the-art water supply system with a gravity-fed tank on the third floor to fight fires.
• Cost: $10,200 (roughly $330,000 today).

Himmelwright even wrote a book about it in 1913 titled A Model Fire-Proof Farmhouse, detailing every cost and dimension. Tragically, the book is dedicated to his son, who drowned in the man-made lake on the property in 1911.

From Boxing Camp to Nudist Colony

To make the property profitable, Himmelwright leased the land to various groups, including a training camp for boxers and a “health farm” called Sylvan Springs, which touted the “healing waters” of the lake.

During the Great Depression, the property found a new identity. It was leased to the American Gymnosophical Association (AGA), a group looking for a private sanctuary for naturism (social nudism).

The Nudist Boom: New Jersey was actually a hub for the early American nudist movement. In 1932, Sky Farm (America’s first official nudist camp) opened in Basking Ridge. Rock Lodge followed suit shortly after.

Advertisements from the 1930s boasted of the Stone House’s luxuries: “City electricity, big bath-tubs… and steam-heat in the mansion.” It was a “tent colony” where members rented space on the grounds but ate meals prepared by a chef inside the granite mansion.

Famous Faces and Spies

Over the decades, the club attracted a diverse and sometimes famous roster of members:

• Percival Wilde: Novelist and playwright.
• John Ericson: Hollywood actor (Bedknobs and Broomsticks).
• Annie Andrews: A famous 1940s pin-up model.
• Karel Koecher: In a plot twist worthy of a movie, Koecher was a Czechoslovakian intelligence agent who operated as a “mole” inside the CIA. He and his wife were active members of Rock Lodge during the 1970s while he was spying on the U.S. government!

Rock Lodge Today

In the 1990s, the members organized to purchase the property outright. Today, the club owns 145 acres of woodlands, streams, and open space.

The Stone House celebrated its centennial in 2007. While it no longer serves meals (it is used for rental rooms for members), it remains largely unchanged from Himmelwright’s original fireproof design. The site has evolved from a tent city to a community of small cottages and a clubhouse, but the granite fortress on the hill still stands watch.

How to Visit

It is important to note that Rock Lodge Club is a private membership organization, not a public park. You cannot simply drive in to see the house.

• Access: Visits are generally restricted to members or prospective members scheduling a tour.
• Location: Stockholm, New Jersey.
• Status: Active.

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For More Information

Rock Lodge Club (www.rocklodge.com)