On June 28, 1935, Vito Genovese purchased a 35-acre (other accounts set it at 42 and 24 acres) property at 152 Red Hill Road in Middletown from Mrs. Florence Sperling. The estate was originally part of a large farm owned by the Taylor family; this tract was sold to Edward Dangler. In 1928, the Danglers constructed this large two-story Colonial Revival Mansion on the hilltop (see photo above), but Edward died from heart disease a short time later. Dangler’s widow, Teresa, sold the property to Mrs. Sperling on March 18, 1933.
Vito expanded the existing house into an elaborate 12-room mansion combining English and Italianate styles. “An addition of four rooms is being built and when this is completed the residence will have twelve large rooms, a kitchen and a kitchenette. The residence has every modern comfort and convenience. Much landscape work is being done including the setting out of trees and shrubbery and a large children’s playground. Several roads and bridle paths are being made. Mrs. Genovese is a devotee of horseback riding and a stable is on the place. A large garage is being built, with servants’ quarters overhead.” The property is described as “one of the most picturesque spots in Monmouth county, replete with hills, valleys and dales.”
Caruso Construction Company of Atlantic Highlands carried out the renovations. The grounds were re-fashioned in a pseudo-Italian style reminiscent of Vito’s Naples, Italy homeland. Lovett’s Nursery of Little Silver planted the gardens according to the plans of Theodore Stout. The gardens were landscaped like an Italian villa with weeping hemlocks and terraced pools, with imported Roman statuary and lava stone from Mount Vesuvius for a working replica volcano. With a fire set inside, the stone volcano could belch real flame and smoke. Vito also added a three-hole golf course to the estate.
On February 23, 1937, the mansion was lost to a fire. An oil burner was thought to be at fault, but the exact cause was not determined. High winds prevented the five companies of firefighters from saving the property. “Total damage, including the dwelling, partly covered by insurance, costly furnishings, paintings and other works of art, was estimated at $80,000.” Fire officials stated that Anna’s mother and the couple’s three children visited the house the previous afternoon, but this was never verified.
Anna and Vito were not in New Jersey at the time of the fire. In January of 1937, with state and federal investigators closing in, Vito had fled to Italy. Anna would later testify that Vito took $750,000 in cash with him, which he stashed in various safe deposit boxes in Europe, including $500,000 in Switzerland. After Naples fell to the Allies, Genovese succeeded in obtaining a position of interpreter/liaison officer in the U.S. Army headquarters in Naples. Vito quickly became one of the Army’s most trusted civilian employees, but meanwhile, he was taking advantage of black market opportunities and providing cocaine to Benito Mussolini’s son-in-law (see photo above of Vito [with sunglasses] with Sicilian outlaw Salvatore Giuliano). Genovese even contributed $250,000 toward the construction of a new lavish headquarters for Mussolini’s Fascist Party.
Anna moved the family back to New York City, where she resumed her successful career managing nightclubs. They returned to their $180-per-month apartment at 29 Washington Square in Greenwich Village, directly above the apartment of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Vito remained in Italy for seven years, with Anna visiting regularly to keep him supplied with cash. The Middletown property was left to deteriorate. On June 22, 1939, the Genovese property in Middletown was seized by the Monmouth County Sheriff in execution of the lawsuit of William M. Miller Co., Inc., to be sold at a sheriff’s sale, but there is no record that this took place. On February 26, 1948, while Vito and Anna were living in Atlantic Highlands, Vito sold the estate to Dominic A. Caruso, who was the contractor who had worked on the house renovations. Caruso sold the house to Mrs. Gladys Cubbage of Middletown, for a price “in the neighborhood” of $25,000. The estate changed hands several more times, and was eventually donated to the Monmouth County Park System, and is now known as Deep Cut Park.
Sources:
History of Deep Cut Park. (1978). https://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?ID=2560
Realty Transfers. (1933). Asbury Park Press, March 22, 1933, P. 9.
Property Changes Monmouth County. (1935). Keyport Weekly (Keyport, N.J.). June 28, 1935, P. 9.
Vito Genovese – Patriarch of a Family. (1968). Asbury Park Press, September 30, 1968, P. 1.
Deep Cut Gardens Walking Tour. Monmouth County Park System brochure. Available: https://historic-sites-inventory-mcps.opendata.arcgis.com/app/37bd6358ad204d6d8748d958b41c1b8f
Middletown Twp. Home Of Wealthy New Yorker Burns. (1937). The Daily Record (Long Branch). February 23, 1937, P. 1, 12.
Notorious New Jersey. (2012). Blackwell, Jon. Rivergate Books, an imprint of Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N.J., P. 133-136.
Mirandi Goes Free in Boccia Murder Probe. (1947). Daily News (New York, N.Y.), February 14, 1947, page B9.
Maas, Peter. (1968). The Valachi Papers. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, N.Y.
Common Law 1-319. SHERIFF’S SALE. The Daily Register, Red Bank, N.J., July 13, 1939, P. 20.
Middletown Woman Buys Vito Genovese Estate. (1949). The Daily Register, Red Bank, N.J., February 26, 1948, P. 1.
History of Deep Cut Park. (1978). https://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?ID=256
Image of Edward Dangler mansion courtesy Monmouth County Parks System; used by permission.
Leave a Reply