The Elberon Ranch
of folks who live in its upstairs living area, the downstairs converted garage,
the attic, the converted chicken coops, and even sometimes in its play castle,
built by the Guggenheim family at the turn of the century. You can still see
the remnants of the walls that bordered the moat once surrounding a small island.
They would paddle their canoes when coming to visit their little private park
grounds that became the Elberon Ranch. For years it's been known as a horse farm,
and in more recent years there have been goats, chickens, ducks, tree farming,
plowed fields for crops, large stands of bamboo, and a lovely garden over an acre
in size. 
The Elberon Ranch derives its name from the southern section of Long Branch
known as Elberon, named after E. L. Brown, a former owner of a large portion of
that area in the early part of the 20th century. The Guggenheims, a wealthy US
family who also owned a house now converted to the library of Monmouth University
down the road, owned the land and I believe it was known as their "hunting grounds",
although I can't imagine they could hunt very much even back then. There are
remnants of the old buildings of the estate, mostly half-buried and 100 year old
trees growing right through the concrete of its foundations. 
later years I would end up there for musical extravaganzas with musicians who
would gather for jam sessions and I remember some of these as opportune times to
network with other local musicians looking to form bands. David Sancious lived
there before me and he went on to play with some of music's greats, including
Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Santana, and many others, as well as forging a career
for himself in jazz fusion. The Asbury Jukes, The Shots, Blackberry Booze Band,
and other local Jersey Shore bands all rehearsed there at one time or another.
James told me Chick Corea once had a piano delivered there.
On July 4th, 1976, the bicentennial celebration we held at the Ranch hosted a
number of bands in its backyard party. I was in "The Shots" at the time, a ten
piece rhythm and blues band and we rocked that afternoon. Philippe Petit was
there and did his tightwire act and juggling that astounded the crowd with his
deftness and acuity. Philippe was the one who walked across a tightrope between
the two towers of the World Trade Center in NYC, as well as many places around
the globe and he's world reknowned for his feats of unprecedented aerial
showmanship. I asked him that day how he could maintain his balance so perfectly.
He reached down, took off his shoe and sock, showing us the bottom of his foot,
he pointed to the unique tatoo of planets and said he keeps it (the tightwire)
between Mars and Venus. 
of the upstairs bedrooms. It was a haven of nature in a suburban sprawl. The local
chapter of the Audubon Society visited us twice a year, in the spring and fall, to
count the migrating birds. The Ranch is a major stopover for them because of its
abundance of natural rosehips growing there. It was quite a sight waking up one
morning and seeing about a dozen people walking in with binoculars and notepads
and not knowing beforehand about this biannual trek. James told me he spoke with
Mr. Langer just before he died and he asked James point blank why he thought he
should allow James to continue caretaking the ranch and James replied that it was
a bird sanctuary because of the abundance of natural rosehips. This, surprisingly,
was precisely what Langer knew to be true and James believed this was the reason he
was able to caretake this unique piece of real estate for so many years. 
James Fusco was the main caretaker at the Elberon Ranch for a long time. He was an
easygoing, mystical sort of person and I considered him a spiritual brother. He died
in an unfortunate motorcycle accident a year after I moved out of state. He is missed
by many and was one of the anchors of holding the spirit of what the Ranch has been
for many over the years. Presently there is talk about selling the Ranch by the Langer
family, and there have always been commercial developers interested in cutting this land
up and building homes. Many in the city do not want to see this land developed, being
that it is the only piece of land left of any size, and want to see it used as park
lands. Long Branch has a scarcity of open lands available and this could add substantially
to the needs of the city. This is now being debated in city council and by the public at
large. 
Since posting this webpage on the Elberon Ranch, I have received some correspondence
regarding the Ranch and the people who lived there. I thought it would be nice for others
who have connections to the Ranch to also read these stories so hop on over to my webpage
on The Elberon Ranch Responses and Letters page if you'd
like to hear more about this magical place in the wilds of Long Branch.
