Post a pic of a nearby castle ... this one is 5 miles from me ...

[mdmc]

http://www.hudsonriver.com/bannerman.htm

more... http://www.bannermancastle.org/photogallery.htm

That is the Hudson River, by the way. :patriot: post em if ya got em!

[wildhorses]

1. check this out:

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/martin.htm

[mdmc]

4. pretty cool

is it being rebuilt now?

[wildhorses]

7. dunno....don' t live there anymore

No one has ever lived in it as far as I know...

[mdmc]

33. so all of this time and energy has been used to create a grand

residence that no one has ever lived in. Thats weird, wild stuff.

[Aristus]

2. This is actually about 100 or so miles away: Hoqiuam Castle.

Actually just a large Victorian mansion and now tourist trap.

[mdmc]

67. where is it located?

Feels new englandish to me...

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

3. Belvedere Castle, only 1 mile from me

[KitchenWitch]

29. Is that the castle in Central Park?

Pardon my ignorance, I have not been to New York.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

46. how is it ignorance if you haven't been to NY?

Yea, its the castle in Central Park

http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/thegreatlawn/belvederecastle

:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

57. Ignorance? I don't know

I have only heard about the castle in Central Park.

I hope to get there to see it someday!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

65. I think you should come soon

and we can go visit the castle together :hi:

[KitchenWitch]

68. I would love that!

:hi:

[Tikki]

5. Magic Castle.....

Hotel.....in Hollywood CA about 35 miles from me...
....and, remember, it is an 'oh-so exclusive night club'.
http://www.magiccastle.com

[Zookeeper]

17. I've been there...it's a lot of fun.

It's only exclusive in the sense that you have to be a magician (or at least perform some magic well enough) to become a member. It's open to members and their guests.

[nosillies]

71. I went to the Magic Castle for dinner last week!

I had nightmares for dessert. This one guy was super freaky but very talented.

[mdmc]

75. sounds wild

wildtown!

[wildhorses]

6. here's another one

http://www.biltmore.com/

[mdmc]

77. nice

link :kick:

[bleedingheart]

8. not but about 5 miles from where I live someone is building a castle

based on Dunrobin castle in Scotland...it will also include a heated driveway...I have no clue who has this kind of cash...


here is Dunrobin..

<>

[NewJeffCT]

10. I didn't even know you could heat driveways

that seems a tad extravegent.

[bleedingheart]

12. it involves either heated coils...kind of like how you heat a floor

or it can involve piping that hot water is run through....I think most of it today is heated coil systems...

The town of Vail Colorado...is putting in heated streets...I was there just about a month ago and they were finishing up the streets they didn't heat the previous year...

[Jazz2006]

54. Lots of them up here in the great white north :)

Melts the snow so you don't have to shovel the driveway.

And not terribly expensive, really.

:)

[NewJeffCT]

56. Interesting

Is it still regular asphalt or concrete on the driveway, or do they use another material for the surface?

[Jazz2006]

64. Regular concrete or paving stones or asphalt...

It can be done with any of the usual surface materials.

There are different systems that you can get - manual or automatic; running on gas or electricity; etc.

Here's some info:

http://www.warmquest.com/products-snow-melting.php

[mdmc]

79. makes sense

they heat runways.... guess driveways would be next.

[NNadir]

9. They call this piece of Real Estate around here "The Castle."

It is the home built by the 19th century Uptopian John Ralston, founder of the Ralston-Purina company.

Grounds and interior.







I guess energy bills and global climate change weren't 19th century utopian issues.

[insane_cratic_gal]

30. that's beautiful

My stair case is similar to that (dutch heavy wood PA style) but that's where the similarities stop!

[mdmc]

82. do you have a pic of your stairs

:)

[Ptah]

11. Casa Grande:

http://www.nps.gov/cagr/adhi/adhi3a.htm

And Canyon de Chelly


http://www.travelaboutinc.com/images/9-Canyon%20de%20Chelly,%20Arizona.jpg

[barb162]

16. I've always wanted to go there

It looks wonderful

[mdmc]

84. this is the first I've heard of this place

looks awesome.

[auntAgonist]

13. here's one about 1.5 hrs drive away

ADAMS CASTLE IS ONE FAMILY'S CROWNING GLORY
DETROIT FREE PRESS
By LYNN MORRISON Free Press Special Writer
Date: Thursday, June 28, 1984
Page: 1B OAKLAND NORTH

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/adams.htm

Edition: METRO FINAL
Section: FTR

A man's home is his castle. This is especially true for Don Bortz and his family, who reside in the well-known Birmingham landmark called Adams Castle. "A friend of mine, Harry Stevens, used to own the place," says Bortz. "When I heard he was considering selling, I went right over to see him. "It was May 8, 1976. I remember that because the date was significant. I presented him with a contract of purchase, which he refused to sign. "He kept throwing the contract on the floor, and I kept putting it back on his desk. We spent nine hours negotiating and hammering out details before we got the job done. "Though I'd arrived at his house on Saturday afternoon, it was in the wee hours of Sunday morning when the deal was completed. I phoned my wife and said, 'Happy Mother's Day, Val. I just bought you a castle.' "

The mansion couldn't be in more caring hands. For the last eight years, the Bortzes have devoted themselves to the considerable task of refurbishing, restoring and furnishing their 32-room home, returning it to its original splendor.

THE CASTLE was the brainchild of wealthy real estate agent Harry Stormfeltz, who hired architect Richard Marr to "build the most impressive house in Oakland County."

Construction began in 1926, and the home on Adams Road was completed in 1929. Following instructions to spare no expense, Marr (often accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Stormfeltz) made several trips abroad and to New York importers, where he selected fireplaces and mantels, rare stained-glass and leaded- glass windows, lighting fixtures, curved oak gates, walnut doors, handmade tiles and Italian marbles.

THE CASTLE'S vast interior includes a solarium called the Marble Room in which the floors and walls are marble and the molded plaster ceiling is silver-leafed. Bortz's library is dominated by a large, antique, hand- carved oak mantelpiece. "In order to install it, we had to rip out the old fireplace and build a new one to the proper dimensions," Bortz said. Other unusual features include a poker room, a ballroom and a bar. In spite of its immensity, Bortz says that every inch of space is used by the family, which includes Bortz, his wife and twochildren."We have never closed off any portion of the house and keep it almost as active as when the bachelors were here." Bortz was referring to 13 young bachelors who leased the castle in 1947. They called the castle Meglo Manor and, with a staff of servants, lived a fast-paced, royal lifestyle of endless parties. Some moved and some married, but there was always a waiting list of eligible bachelors anxious to take their places. The bachelors were in residence for eight years.

STAFFING THE castle is a problem, says Val Bortz. "Obviously, this isn't the sort of house you can run by yourself. Finding and keeping good help isn't easy in today's world. "We had the same difficulty finding decorators who could deal with the improvements and furnishings we've added. Many of them simply didn't understand what we were trying to accomplish. "Fortunately, we've found a kindred soul with interior designer Wallace Newton. He knows that a house like this is a living entity, and he understands what goes into it."

[mdmc]

86. very impressive

thanks for the pic and info.

[Floogeldy]

14. I guess this one.

[Whoa_Nelly]

15. This one is about a 2 hour drive from me

Hearst Castle

A couple of my pics of it..((not my best in pics...will redo them later on)

The Castle




A closer look...




A detail of some of the exterior hand-carved woodwork

[MikeH]

21. Hearst Castle is about 300 miles up the coast from me (in San Diego)

I visited the Hearst Castle a few times from 1975 to 1981, and took some of the tours.

I drove by it in 1986 and 1996 going through Big Sur on the way back from visiting a friend in the Santa Cruz area.

[Gormy Cuss]

58. I was there last weekend

It's about 200 miles from my house.

[Whoa_Nelly]

59. Which tour did you take?

I've only been there the one time and took the Upper Floors of Casa Grande/Tour 2.

Will definitely go back for some of the other tours.

http://www.hearstcastle.com/

[Gormy Cuss]

62. Took the intro

One guest cottage, a bit of the gardens, and the lower floor of Casa Grande and both pools.

The male elephant seals were out in force on the beach in Point Piedras -- that was something we just stumbled into because we saw crowds at the beach all looking the same direction. BIG adults and some younger ones with tiny 'noses.'

[IsIt1984Yet]

18. This is the only castle near me to my knowledge:

:shrug:

[RedCappedBandit]

19. west of me ..

[Zookeeper]

20. This is what I found online.

Minnesotans traditionally are not big on conspicuous consumption. (One of the reasons I like it here.)

http://www.spicercastle.com/

[Whoa_Nelly]

26. Take a look at these MN castles!

This site states there's at least one castle in each state...you can look your state up here:

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/


And in MN...WOW!

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/turnblad.htm




And some others in MN...

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/mn_unk2.htm

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/mn_unk3.htm

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/miningmu.htm

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/mn_unk4.htm

[Zookeeper]

31. Actually, we do have a lot of wonderful, huge old homes....

in MN. I was a bit stumped by the "castle" part of it.

http://www.geomyidae.com/index.php?TopicID=px_summitavenue

Here is a link to a site showing Summit Avenue in St. Paul, which is the longest remaining stretch of residential Victorian architecture in the U.S. The surrounding neighborhoods are also filled with gorgeous old houses.

I think you'll enjoy looking at these. Thanks for the link!

[Whoa_Nelly]

32. Thanks!

I actually stayed in one of those houses back in '73. It was the Earp's house (yes, direct relation to Wyatt Earp)...but don't know if they still live there or if the family still owns the house

[reyd reid reed]

22. About 10 miles from me, I'm guessing...

And...for a mere 3,750,000 it can be all yours.

Heh...and the site touted the glorious....'dinning room'

For the commission they're looking to make on that 3.75 mil, wouldn'tcha think they could run a spell check?

*shakes head*

[Lex]

23. Gimghoul Castle, Chapel Hill NC . . .

about 10 miles away.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Gimghoul

[nutsnberries]

24. a little bit east of here > Crane Castle

http://newenglandtravelplanner.com/go/ma/northshore/ipswich/sights/crane_estate.html

"Richard Teller Crane, Jr, made a fortune in plumbing and bathroom fixtures a century ago, and spent it on a grand English-manor estate in Ipswich MA...."

[Heidi]

25. There are three castles within half an hour of our house.

Here's one of the castles at Bellinzona:

[Jazz2006]

27. Here's one near me.

Casa Loma, Toronto.

[Skittles]

28. I grew up close to this one

it's William the Conqueror's house

[spacelady]

34. My uncle, Cloyd Nelson, owned Miramont Castle (also known as Montcalm

Castle) in the late 60's. I toured it once, but I was very young and I hardly remember it. It is located in Manitou Springs, Colorado & I think he bought it as an investment. It was not in good shape at the time.

[bridgit]

35. this one is some 5hrs from me...

http://www.hearstcastle.com

[XemaSab]

36. Does this count?

[Blue-Jay]

37. Cook Hall in Normal, IL

I attended many classes/ensembles in that building. In front, there's a shitberry tree. When the shitberries dropped off the tree in the fall, people would step on them and it smelled just like they had walked in dogshit. I never found out the actual name of that type of tree, so shitberry it remains.

[joneschick]

39. shit berry tree=female gingko

lovely tree, but yeah, dogshit in the Fall.

[Generic Brad]

38. I live near White Castle. Does that count?

[qnr]

40. About 1/4 - 1/2 mile away ...

Not really castles, but what the heck. The first one looks like a castle, though it isn't. It's the "Olde Federal Building" in downtown Augusta, Maine. The second photo is of Old Fort Western, also in downtown Augusta. These are thumbnails, you can click on them for the full-sized images.



Edit: I seem to remember that I attended (for a few months) a school in Las Vegas, New Mexico that looked like a castle, however, I don't have any photos (hint, hint).

[KatyMan]

41. Leeds Castle

About 7 miles or so from us. It's a great place to visit, lots of parkland and greenspace to picnic on.






--Edited for typowe.... :D

[Blue-Jay]

42. That's gorgeous! Can I live there?

[wildhorses]

66. welcome to the Lounge

post early and often...
:hi:

thanks for sharing

[joneschick]

43. as a child I could see this from the kitchen window

on a clear day since it's probably 15-20 miles

[RebelOne]

44. Castles here in Georgia? I don't think so.

Or at least there aren't any that I know of.

[jobycom]

45. Here's two in Austin. They might be for sale

Pemberton Castle, I think, was in some kids movie a while back. It was originally an old cistern, and the rest was built around that. Last I heard, it was for sale.



This is a house that sits on a ridge behind Lamar Blvd, near the old Whole Foods (the original, it's now Cheapos). There are some reall neat pictures of it taken on foggy days, where is looks like a Scottish castle. It's not that impressive normally. I hear rumors it's vacant and being vandalized. DOn't know who owns it.

[StellaBlue]

47. Well

If you'd asked me this question 12 months and two weeks ago, my answer would've been this:




As it is, though, it's this:



(Though, to be fair, there aren't many real castles in America; we mistakenly use that term when, usually, we mean a palace. Meh.)

[tjwmason]

48. This is 15 miles from me.

Windsor Castle. Some of the floor tiles there were actually made in the village here, and recently the excavated one of the mediaeval kilns.

There used to be a castle in the local town, preserved these days only in the name of Castle Street. We don't really have many castles round here because we've essentially been at peace for so long, the good English castles are on the borderlands with Scotland or on the South coast (protection against French invasion).

Notable local buildings though include Hughenden Manor - home of Benjamin Disraeli (boo hiss, boo hiss).


And West Wycombe Park, the home of Sir Francis Dashwood of the Hellfire Club - the Hellfire Caves are there also. Apparently there is also an Iron Age hill-fort at the site too.

[xchrom]

49. you can take me to dinner there.

[tjwmason]

51. We'd probably get manhandled by a few guardsmen.

I'm not necessarily saying that that's a bad thing. ;)

[xchrom]

53. well at this point i'd say it's my patriotic duty to say:

''bring 'em on!''

[TK421]

70. Thank you for those beautiful pictures....I've always wanted

to visit England ( in fact, all of the United Kingdom )....but I don't think my budget would ever allow it :shrug:

[tjwmason]

83. There's lots to see over here...

I'm impressed that you know the difference between England and the U.K. too.

If you do make it over here, let me know then we can meet up - I'm just outside London. :hi:

[libnnc]

50. Well, George Vanderbilt called it a "chateau".....

Biltmore House was the largest private residence in the United States. Took 5 years to complete.


I was born and raised about 40 miles west of the Biltmore Estates. It's known for its winery now but when I was a kid Biltmore produced dairy products.

[u4ic]

52. Not a real castle

but based on one....The Banff Springs Hotel. They even have a few ghosts! :P



The decor looks castle-like:

[mdmc]

60. g...g...gh...ghost!

[maveric]

55. Nearmy old hometown. "Seales Castle".

http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/searles1.htm
This Seales guy was somewhat of an eccentric.He married an older woaman who had money. When she died he had money and time on his hands. So he spent his cache on castles all over the Merrimack Valley MA and NH. All over the Lawrence/Methuen, Lowell, Haverhill,Salem and Windham NH,there are many great stone castles built to specs from the 14th century Europe.
Mr. Searles also contracted artisan stone masons from Sicily to build these gems. He contacted my great grandfather, a master craftsman in Sicily around 1900, to work for him. My GG father brought his whole crew of 25 masons to this country, where they worked for Searles for 20+ years. They were paid well and made good lives for themselves and their families.
When I was a kid my Ma and Grandmother would tell me, when we drove by these castles, "Your Great Grandfather built these".
If you ever get to that part of the country and you see castles, keepin mind that Mr. Searles built these and put somegod craftsman from Sicily to work for many years.

[Jean Louise Finch]

61. The Grand Palace

is less than a mile from me, though naturally it takes about an hour and a half to fight the traffic to get there!

[baldguy]

63. Not a "real" castle, but it always reminded me of one

[WoodyTobiasJr]

69. How about a hotels that looks like a castles?

They're over a hundred years old too. They are both within a 2 hour drive


Banff Springs Hotel







Chateau Lake Louise

[nosillies]

72. Beat this! I live by Cinderella's castle!

Also, this is pretty cool. It's on the beach in Daytona. It's a band shell, but it's built to look like a sand castle. I lived in a condo directly above it for a while, and I got free concerts all summer long.

[NMDemDist2]

73. this is the best I can do in Phoenix

edit to add, we call it the Wedding Cake Castle but it's real name is Tovrea Castle

[KamaAina]

74. On the other side of O'ahu's Ko'olau Range

is Castle Medical Center in Kane'ohe (where Opihi lives) :P

We've got a palace ('Iolani, which starred as Hawaii Five-O HQ), but no castle in the traditional sense.

[LynneSin]

76. It's about 30 miles from me......

[Bridget Burke]

78. In Houston, you can rent a castle!

www.funtymerentals.com/moonwalk.asp

The Burkes built Cloghan Castle near my grandfather's home town. It's also for rent.


www.cloghancastle.com/index.html

[fight4my3sons]

80. Hey! Spent some time looking at that one :-)

Used to party up on Breakneck :-)

[hyphenate]

81. There might be more closer

but this one deserves mention. Gillette Castle in Connecticut

[graywarrior]

85. Not exactly a castle...but a Stephen Kingish hotel in Bretton Woods NH

[Iniquitous Bunny]

87. Gillette Castle