Samuel Richards built the imposing, classically inspired Atsion mansion in 1826 at the height of fashion, placing it on a rise overlooking the ironworks and the lake that served as a mill pond providing water power to the village. The Richards family, whose primary home was in Philadelphia, used the mansion as a summer retreat. Its porch columns, made from cast iron water pipes, were likely produced at Weymouth Furnace, another iron furnace owned by Richards. Inside, a large center hall connects the north door, carriage entrance, and south porch, with large rooms opening off the hallway and featuring marble fireplaces. Each of the 14 rooms had its own fireplace, while cooking and food preparation took place in the cellar at an eight-foot open hearth fireplace. The cool cellar also contained a meat room and milk room to help keep provisions fresh. Samuel Richards lived from 1769 to 1842, and his wife Anna Marie Richards from 1763 to 1860. By the time the State of New Jersey purchased the mansion in 1954 as part of what is now Wharton State Forest, the building was in dire disrepair.
