The owner of this 183 acre landmark estate had intended to convert the mansion into a conference center, and tried to sell it for that use without success for several years. He also could not find a residential buyer.

The mansion, built in 1903 high on a hill in the town of Goshen, Orange County, NY, was called Ontaroga, a Leni-Lenape word meaning “hill of stones.”

Charles Williams set out to find a commercial company which could utilize the mansion for business, but whose owner would also appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the huge estate, despite its high purchase price and upkeep. Charles marketed the property extensively for a year. He knew he was searching for a needle in a haystack.

Ultimately, he found that special buyer: Amolloy Company, an offshoot of the American Brake Shoe Corporation. By a strange coincidence, the original owner of the mansion, Mr. Gates McGarrah, sat on the Board of Directors of the American Brake Shoe Corporation in the early 1900s.