Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, left, speaks with Gov. Phil Murphy during a service for Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver at the Essex County Historic Courthouse in Newark on Friday, August 11, 2023.

"This is a historic building," said Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire. "This building is probably has been here for over 100 years. It's very chopped up, for lack of a better word.

A photo of the Fort Ethan Allen Water Tower from 1907 in the Library of Congress showing the original weathervane. Courtesy photo/Essex Community Historical Society.

But we are not at Mount Vernon, not even in Virginia. No, this majestic manse, now sagging and empty, sits in Prince George's County, across the Potomac from the exquisitely rehab ...