Restoration work continues at The Palace of Depression in Vineland, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018.

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Tim Hawk & Chris Franklin | For NJ.com

Driving down South Mill Road in Vineland, you will find the typical residential house with a truck or car in the driveway. However, when you go past the building at 265 South Mill Road, there is something a little peculiar about this place. Behind the modern looking structure adjacent to the street, there is a castle, or better yet, a palace.

The Palace of Depression, named for the period it was constructed in and not by sadness, was built nearly 86 years ago by a man who was as much of a genius as he was troubled. It was literally built with junk and more random parts than MacGuyver could have ever assembled.

Once dubbed the "strangest house in the world," it stood for more than 30 years as a bizarre tourist attraction.

Now, 50 years after it was destroyed, the house is being rebuilt and restored by a father-son duo and numerous volunteers.

Because the house was made to look like a castle, why not tell the story as if it were a fairy tale. This is the story of a unique man, the house he built, and the people restoring it (according, mostly to the those people.)

Don't Edit

Provided by The Palace of Depression

Once upon a time...

There was once a man by the name of George Daynor. Daynor made his fortune as a gold miner in Alaska during the Gold Rush. Once he was finished his prospecting days and struck it rich, he made his way to San Francisco and invested his money into the stock market.

Don't Edit

But then he lost everything

because two events would later take away the fortunes he amassed. An earthquake in San Francisco would destroy most of his possessions. Still having his money in stocks, he then moved to New York. Unfortunately, he lost all of his wealth in the 1929 stock market crash.

Don't Edit

Provided by The Palace of Depression

Magic beans or a junkyard swamp?

With only a few dollars to his name, Daynor was in bad shape financially. One day, Daynor saw an ad in a newspaper (you know, the paper things that people still read from time to time before Kindles and cell phones), saying there was land being sold in a city named Vineland for $1 an acre.

Daynor later told visitors he walked from New York to Vineland for close to 10 days to his new land purchase, a swamp with a junkyard on it.

Don't Edit

Provided by The Palace of Depression

Angels and a dream

Daynor crawled into a truck and had a dream that angels appeared to him and told him he had enough materials at the junkyard swamp to build a fantastic castle, He began building the house the next day. He used coffee cans, automobile parts, bottles, and other items to make the house. He decided to open his home to the public Dec. 25, 1932.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Provided by The Palace of Depression

Success and failure

Daynor initially charged visitors 10-cents to enter and tour the house. As word spread, people from around the country visited his home. After experiencing a steady amount of curious visitors and tourists for almost 30 years, attendance at the house began to decline.

He heard there was a kidnapping up north and he told authorities there was a couple that had a kid with them that looked like the child that was kidnapped. He told the FBI the couple was coming back the next day. The FBI decided to stake out the palace but got mad at him after Daynor said his report was a hoax.

Daynor was charged for the fabricated story, and he had received a one year sentence in prison as a result of the false claim. He was well into his 80s at the time, and during his incarceration, he became sick. He was released early, and he was placed in the Cumberland Manor nursing home. He stayed there for about half a year until he was allowed to leave. When he came back to the palace he built, he discovered that kids had burned down the second floor down and knocked down some of the walls.

With his palace in shambles and suffering from dementia, he wandered around the area and was eventually placed back into Cumberland Manor until he died in 1964 at the age of 104.

With the palace in disrepair and bad shape, the city had the building destroyed.

Don't Edit

Kevin Kirchner, president of The Palace of Depression Restoration Association, talks about the restoration progress while standing in The Palace, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018.

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Along comes a father and son

Years went by, and nothing was done with the land. In 1998, the city was going to try to sell the property for a proposed housing project. Kevin Kirchner was the head construction official and director of licenses and inspections for Vineland. When Kirchner received the memo about what was going to happen, he went to the city and asked if he would restore the property to what it once was.

The city agreed, and Kirchner and other formed The Palace of Depression Restoration Association. He, his son Kristian, a former police officer, and volunteers helped begin building up the house, most of the time after work or during the weekend.

Unfortunately, like many years before, vandals would come by and knock down the work they had done. This did not deter Kirchner, and he and the foundation continued with the restoration. They continued to work and recreated a lot of the same areas that were in the original house.

Don't Edit

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Ticket booth

They used the original ticket booth where Daynor would charge visitors.

Don't Edit

Restoration work continues at The Palace of Depression in Vineland, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018.

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The walls have eyes, and other stuff

They incorporated items found in the area into the walls, including some eyeballs, glass and other refuse.

Don't Edit

Kevin Kirchner, president of The Palace of Depression Restoration Association, talks objects in the wall while standing in The Palace, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018.

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

It was the original AirBnB for the Jersey Devil

They even recreated the rooms Daynor showed visitors. One of the rooms included the Jersey Devil's Den.

"He (Daynor) would claim when the Jersey Devil came to Vineland, he would come over to the palace to sleep at night, but George would lock him in the den," Kirchner said.

Inside the room were a cot and fireplace. Kirchner also said there were Jersey Devil footprints on the hallway walls coming down to the den.

Don't Edit

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A true throne

One area Daynor created in the basement was known as the storytelling room. What some people didn't realize was the throne Daynor made for himself to sit on served a second function, a bathroom.

Don't Edit

Forget your troubles in "The Knockout Room"

In the aptly named "Knockout room," a pulley system was installed with a brick at the end of a rope.

"If you wanted to clear your head and clear your thoughts, he could make all of your troubles go away," Kirchner said Daynor would say to his visitors.

Don't Edit

Kristian Kirchner works on a door in what will be the museum at The Palace of Depression in Vineland, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018.

Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Happily ever after?

Kirchner, his son, and other volunteers are working on a new museum and historical center that is scheduled to open on Vineland Founder's Day in 2019. The center will have artifacts found during two archeological digs as well as a letter and other items relating to Daynor and the house.

Don't Edit

Related Stories

Halloween 2018: Our guide to N.J. events, trick-or-treating, parades and zombie walks

New Jersey fall festivals 2018: See our complete guide to events, from the mountains to the Shore

Here's how much money Shore towns made selling you beach badges in 2017

Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Instagram @photog_hawk and Twitter @photogthawk. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Don't Edit