Mt. Peru was the home of my great-uncle, Harry Urias Riepe, Jr. (#866), and his wife, Marion [Wheildon] Riepe (#873).  I spent a good 20 years in the horse world - riding, showing, foxhunting, teaching lessons, and managing a boarding stable - and it was, here, at Mt. Peru, that Uncle Harry taught me to ride as a young child. Every 4th of July, the Riepe clan gathered for food and fun on "the farm".  While the "grown-ups" reminisced, the older boys would hitch old Lady, the pony, up to the pony cart and take us younger kids for rides . .  of course, being boys, they used to think it was great fun to turn a sharp corner somewhere, tip the cart over, and have us all spill out.  We all thought it was great fun too, and now, years later, I am amazed that none of us was ever hurt!

Mt. Peru was built in 1851.  When Uncle Harry and Aunt Marion purchased it in 1940, the house had no electricity, no plumbing, and no furnace - the only heat was from pot-bellied stoves.  As you can see from the pictures, Uncle Harry and Aunt Marion had their work cut out for them, and, over the years, they transformed Mt. Peru into a lovely estate.  Unfortunately, Uncle Harry was killed in this home in 1983, the victim of a robbery.  Today, Mt. Peru is owned, lived in, maintained, and loved, by Uncle Harry and Aunt Marion's eldest grandson and his family.