Van Dahl Mansion

Van Dahl Mansion
Location	Outside of Gotham City
Use	Residence
Owner	Elijah Van Dahl (deceased) Grace Van Dahl (deceased) Oswald Cobblepot Edward Nygma (formerly)

Van Dahl Mansion was the home of Elijah Van Dahl and where he resided with his wife Grace and step-children Sasha and Charles. He brought his long lost son Oswald Cobblepot to live with him, until Elijah was accidentally murdered by his wife and step-children in an attempt to rid themselves of Oswald. After Oswald avenged his father's death by murdering them, he inherited the mansion as his father's only succesor. Once he became the mayor of Gotham City, Oswald let his chief of staff, Edward Nygma, reside in the mansion. However, Edward would shoot Penguin down in the Gotham River after Oswald murdered his girlfriend Isabella, whereon Nygma went on to own the mansion for the following weeks. After Nygma left, Oswald would return to the mansion alongside his new allies Ivy Pepper, Bridgit Pike and Victor Fries. Cobblepot eventually won the war against Riddler and had him trapped in ice by Mr. Freeze, whereon the frozen Nygma was stored at Penguin's mansion for the following weeks.

History

Elijah Van Dahl lived at the mansion with his wife Grace - a former waitress and her two children Sasha and Charles. While visiting the grave of his former lover Gertrud Kapelput he crossed paths with her son Oswald Cobblepot and deduced by Oswald's age and appearance that they were father and son. Elijah welcomed Oswald to the family home, much to the hidden disapproval of his wife and step-children.

Elijah ended up being killed by a poisoned drink which was originally intended for Oswald, as Grace and the children learned Elijah was planning on leaving his estate to Oswald so wanted him out of the way. After the funeral, they wanted Oswald out, however when he begged to remain they let him, but on the condition he became their servant. They took delight in tormenting him and ordering Oswald around until he discovered the poison intended for him and snapped back to his former, sadistic and crooked self. Oswald murdered his two step-siblings and cooked and prepared them for Grace. Revealing to her about what he had done and that he knows she poisoned his father, Oswald stabbed her to death.

Oswald continued to reside at the mansion with Grace's corpse which began gathering flies. A few days later he cut her head off and put it on display, with a stunned Butch Gilzean looking on and Barbara Kean giving advice on where to put it.

Oswald ran his operations from the mansion along with his right-hand man and best friend Edward Nygma. Following his successful candidacy as the mayor of Gotham, Oswald allowed Nygma to operate at the mansion and have his own office, and contemplated expressing his feelings of love.

Following Nygma presumably murdering Oswald in retribution for Oswald killing his new love Isabella, Nygma began to interact with a hallucination of Oswald through the use of drugs, and contemplating how he will gain a new mentor or enemy in order to help him on his path to villainy. Nygma left the mansion once he took on the new identity of "The Riddler" and put behind Oswald.

A few days later, an alive and vengeful Oswald returned to the mansion with Ivy Pepper, Bridgit Pike and Victor Fries in tow, and planned to use them in his quest to taking back his position as king of Gotham and get revenge on those who betrayed him.

After the Riddler was frozen solid by Mr. Freeze, the ice cube was brought to the Van Dahl Manor, where Nygma was stored in a special tank that prevented the ice from melting. Cobblepot then showed Ivy plans and sketches with potential logos for his new nightclub, "The Iceberg Lounge", with him explaining that the name of the club was not only meant to be an allusion to his nickname "Penguin", but also the planned centerpiece that he wanted to display there as a trophy, the frozen Riddler. They would then look at Nygma in his icy prison, Oswald not able to hide a smile at the satisfying sight.

Residents

• Oswald Cobblepot (owner)
• Elijah Van Dahl (deceased)
• Grace Van Dahl (deceased)
• Sasha Van Dahl (deceased)
• Charles Van Dahl (deceased)
• Edward Nygma (formerly)
• Ivy Pepper (formerly)
• Victor Fries (formerly)
• Bridgit Pike (formerly)

Appearances

Season 2 "Wrath of the Villains: Mad Grey Dawn" "Wrath of the Villains: Prisoners" "Wrath of the Villains: Into the Woods" "Wrath of the Villains: Azrael" "Wrath of the Villains: Unleashed" "Wrath of the Villains: Transference" Season 3 "Mad City: Burn the Witch..." "Mad City: Look Into My Eyes" "Mad City: New Day Rising" "Mad City: Anything for You" "Mad City: Follow the White Rabbit" "Mad City: Red Queen" "Mad City: Blood Rush" "Mad City: The Executioner" "Mad City: Time Bomb" "Mad City: Beware the Green-Eyed Monster" "Mad City: Ghosts" "Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It" "Mad City: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" "Heroes Rise: How the Riddler Got His Name" "Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle" "Heroes Rise: Light The Wick" "Heroes Rise: Pretty Hate Machine" (mentioned) "Heroes Rise: Destiny Calling" "Heroes Rise: Heavydirtysoul"

Behind the Scenes

• Lord’s Castle in the village of Piermont in Rockland County, New York was used for establishing shots of Van Dahl Mansion. The 15.000 square foot Châteauesque mansion is located near the Hudson River and also known as The Cedars and Piermont Castle. It was originally built in the 1840s by Eleazar Lord (1788 – 1871), the first president of Erie Railroad. In 1890, Lord's Castle was bought by Alexander Blair Thaw who hired the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White in 1892 to expand the house and redesign its interior. As of fall 2013, Lord's Castle was offered for sale for $5.5 million and eventually sold in 2015. It has since been used as a filming location for establishing shots in Gotham and in 2018 for the episode "Amour Fou" from the psychological thriller series You. Legend has it that the ivy on the castle's exterior facades was given to Eleazar Lord by Washington Irving who supposedly took the ivy from Ludwig van Beethoven's grave (which at the time was still located in the Schubert Park of Währing, Vienna in the Austrian Empire) and Sir Walter Scott's grave (which is located in Dryburgh Abbey on the shore of River Tweed in Scotland).
• Following the end of Season 3, the set for the Van Dahl Mansion's interior at Steiner Studios was redecorated and reused as the Falcone Mansion in Season 4, best recognizable due to the identical fireplace and windows. In Season 5, the set was repurposed once again to depict Gotham City Public Library.