It was incredibly windy here yesterday, and the 90 degree temps went down to the upper 70's during the day. It was feeling a little chilly, so we decided to spend a few hours on the water, and visit a few castles that are in the middle of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
We visited Singer Castle on Dark Island first. The 11 mile boat ride took about an hour, but we had a tour guide filled with info to impart on us for most of that ride. For instance, did you know the Skull and Bones society owns an island on the St. Lawrence? The 1000 Islands island chain isn't made up of 1000 islands, it's actually 1864. The largest is 11 miles by 9 miles and the smallest is 3 feet by three feet and a tree. 1000 Island dressing was indeed created here by some fisherman who forgot to bring salad dressing along on a fishing trip with a silent film star. He whipped that up for her, she liked it and introduced it to her friend, George Boldt, the owner of the Waldorf Astoria, who then put it in his hotels and the rest is history.
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| Singer Castle, Dark Island |
Singer Castle is currently for sale, in case any of you are in the market for an investment property. For a mere 25 million it can be yours. However, for your cool 25 mill you get secret passage ways that are cooler than any Scooby Doo mystery, a boat house, 2 ice houses, a squash court and a workshop. In its heyday it took a staff of 27 to run it, but there are sleeping quarters for 6 currently in the attics. The rest of your staff will have to sleep in the spaces provided in the kitchens and secret passages.
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| The winding staircase |
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| Clay Wine Cellar - Holds 600 bottles |
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| Alcove in the drawing room. Secret passageway located above it |
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| Secret passageway in the library |
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| Windblown and overlooking the workshop and Canada |
The next stop on our trip was Boldt Castle. For any of you not familiar with the story, it's your average richest boy in America wants to build his lady love a house story. Boy buys girl Heart Island and commissions a castle be built on it. Stone masons work diligently on it night and day for years until the poor lady love drops dead of TB. Work halts and boy never steps foot on the island again.
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| The receiving room |
There really isn't anything to prepare you for the opulence that is Boldt Castle. From the imposing structure itself to the amazing details of the plaster work, I've just not seen anything close to it anywhere.
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| Clover, the youngest daughter's bedroom |
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| Other side of Clover's suite. |
In addition to the bedroom, Clover also had a bathroom, 2 closets and her own reception room adjacent to this. The reception room had window seats, and honestly, I'm still drooling over them. Parts of the castle are still unfinished. The Bride Authority currently owns the island and castle and without turning a profit have sunk 40 million into the place thus far.
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