Thousand Islands

Description

Located at the heart of the Thousand Island Region, Boldt Castle is the grandest of all Gilded Age mansions, and the setting of a tragic love story. Boldt Castle was built at the turn of the century by multi-millionaire George C. Boldt for his wife, Louise, as a testimony of the unsurpassed love of a man for his wife. Mr. Boldt came to America in the 1860's from Prussia, the son of poor parents. A man of tremendous industry and organizational skill, with daring and imagination, he became the most successful hotel magnate in America. He owned the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, and the Bellevue-Stratford in Philadelphia, Pennsysvania. He was the president of several other companies, a trustee of Cornell University, and the director of the Hotel Association of New York. For Boldt, to "dream" and to "do" were synonymous. And Boldt Castle stands as an eternal monument not only of a man's love for his wife, but also as a reminder that what a man's mind can conceive, his heart can accomplish. George Boldt was one man whose dreams, however fantastic, proved to be within his capacity to achieve. Like an ancient landmark of northern Europe, the castle is modeled after buildings of the 16th century, when newly revived classical details were applied to the towered, medieval forms, combining traditional elements with modern features, such as large, plate glass windows and extensive verandas. Rising six stores from the foundation level of the indoor swimming pool to the highest tower room, an elevator served the 120 room mansion. Steel and concrete roofs and floors provided fireproof construction. Massive granite walls were richly ornamented with decorative details of cast terr cotta, and roofs were tiled with the same material. An underground passage led from the servants' dock on the water's edge. Goods transported from barges at the dock through this tunnel to storage rooms within the Castle's foundation. The tunnel also housed water pipes and electrical wiring from the Power House. A rocky crest of the island was extended into a level plateau by making a promenade terrace on top of the stone-walled service tunnel. In contrast to the more natural landscape elsewhere on the island, this Italian Garden was to be geometrically formal, so high retaining walls were raised on the opposite side as well, making the plan symmetrical. At the opposite extremity of the garden from the Castle's Ball Room, a fountained pool was surrounded by a curved, lower terrace, overlooking the picturesque roofscape of the Power House. Marble statuary intended for the Italian Garden, was delivered from Italy. Some of these statues were found half a century later still in crates, sunk within an old boathouse. Boldt invested over $2.5 million to build this replica of a Rhineland castle, bringing in the finest of artists and the most skilled craftsmen for this project. He planned on presenting it to his wife on Valentine's Day as a monument of his love for her. Work was underway on the eleven buildings that would comprise the castle complex when tragedy struck. In January of 1904 Louise Boldt died, ending the dreams of a lifetime.

Products & services

Similar companies nearby