Brockie Mansion Bringing the backtoLife

By Karen HendricKs PHotos By Kinna sHaffer

She hadn’t even stepped inside—she was standing on the doorstep, waiting for the real estate agent. Her husband, Frank, had convinced her to come see the historic York mansion.

“It was sort of on a whim—pure curiosity,” Gabrielle recalls. “The real estate photos did not paint a pretty picture of the house, because there was so much stripped away from it—it was just awful. The price kept dropping, and Frank said, ‘Let’s just go see it,’ and I said, ‘You’re crazy.’”

But there she was, on the doorstep of the 1912 Georgian Revival mansion—gutted by the previous owners, who had launched and never completed ambitious renovations. The shell of a once-glorious mansion was frozen in time, gathering dust.

As Gabrielle gazed through the glass, into the home’s foyer, her eyes rested on the foyer’s original, circa-1912 carved sandstone fireplace.

“Seeing that fireplace still intact, untouched—I fell in love with it,” Gabrielle says. “There wasn’t a lot that was still intact inside the house, but you could see the bones were still here, and it could be brought back to life.”

Walking through the neglected mansion with the real estate agent, Gabrielle knew she had her work cut out for her.

“It was hauntingly beautiful,” she describes. “Things were covered and draped in sheets and construction plastic, but you could see beauty under the layers of dirt. It was a mix of sadness and decay and beauty—this house was begging for someone to bring her back to life.”

And Gabrielle heard the call. That was in 2018. Today, just five years later, Gabrielle, Frank, and their three teenaged children call the Brockie Mansion “home.” Grit, as well as vision, restored her glory.

Putting the Pieces Back Together

The home’s Georgian Revival style is based on classic lines, symmetry, and balance—as evidenced in the home’s soaring columns, framing the front door. The Brockie Mansion is named for the adjacent spring-fed stream long known as “the Brockie.”

Outside, the Messinas’ renovations included landscaping. The driveway—part dirt, part crushed stones—was paved. Chimneys and their flashings were repaired. Original windows were given an added layer of protection—and energy efficiency—via storm windows.

Inside the 11,000-square-foot home, there was a huge puzzle, waiting to be put together.

“The original wood floors had been removed, and the floorboards were all bundled up. The moldings had been ripped off the walls,” Gabrielle recalls. “Putting it all back was like fitting giant Legos together.”