Castle of the Month: Bannerman’s Castle
February 6, 2010
Bannerman’s Castle
Sitting on a small island called Pollepel in the Hudson River between Cold Spring and Beacon, across from Storm King Mountain, are the impressive ruins of a castle, one of the very few ever built in the US.
The complex of buildings was constructed as an arsenal between 1900, when the island was purchased by military surplus dealer Frank Bannerman, and 1918, when Bannerman died. Bannerman had purchased most of the Army surplus materiel from the Spanish-American War, including tons of ammunition, and he needed a safe place to store it. In the eastern facade of its imposing superstructure (the Tower), Bannerman cast the legend: Bannerman’s Island Arsenal. A smaller castle was built on the western shore of the island as a residence.
In 1920, 200 tons of munitions exploded in one of the large buildings, causing significant damage to the complex. The island was essentially abandoned after 1950 with the sinking in a storm of the ferryboat Pollepel that had served the island. The island and its buildings were bought by New York State in 1967, and tours were conducted in 1968. The following year the roof and floors of the castle were destroyed in a fire, and no further visits were permitted until they were resumed recently by The Bannerman Castle Trust.
During Christmas week of 2009, a large section of the north and east Tower walls collapsed, and the Trust is seeking donations to stabilize the structure before it is totally lost.
A kayak is the ideal way to approach the castle over stonework obstacles in the shallows of the island. But the castle poses serious risks to visitors: the island boasts generous growths of poison ivy, and the structure itself is demonstrably insecure. Nevertheless, Bannerman’s has been a popular destination for kayakers. The European-type castle is fascinating, and, with due care (and some luck), the island can be a good spot to break for lunch.
Photo by Jerry White of The Staging Prince.
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Castle of the Month: Schoenburg
January 16, 2010
A majestic medieval castle sitting high on a hilltop overlooking the Rhine, sacked and burned by the French under Louis XIV, neglected and deteriorating for two centuries, then rescued and restored by a rich American with a special interest in the romance of castles. A movie story?
Maybe. Across the Rhine from the famed Lorelei Rock (below, where a Rhine maiden lured sailors to their destruction in the swift currents of the river) lies the medieval town of Oberwesel, dominated by its fortified castle, “auf Schoenburg”, one of the most imposing on the Rhine. Built from the 10th to 13th centuries on the site of a Roman fortress built by Julius Caesar, Schoenburg boasts a massive shield wall (seen in the photo above) and two large keeps.
Already controlling much of the territory west of the Rhine, in 1688 Louis XIV’s army captured all the Palatinate and middle Rhineland towns from Koblenz to Heidelberg, precipitating the War of the Grand Alliance. In the following year’s retreat from the League of Augsburg, the French army undertook a scorched-earth policy, which resulted in the destruction of many Palatinate towns, villages and castles, including Schoenburg, whose interior was gutted, while the war precipitated a massive emigration of Palatinate Germans to America (the “Pennsylvania Dutch”).
Despite the intentions of some wealthy patrons to restore the castle after 1825, little was done, and it continued to deteriorate. The picturesque town of Oberwesel attracted tourists in the 19th century, including one Thomas Jackson Oakley Rhinelander, a young member of a prominent New York family of real estate tycoons, whose Huguenot ancestors had lived in the area until the revocation by Louis XIV of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, when some members fled to New York.
In 1883 the 25-year-old Rhinelander purchased the castle and over the next 30 years invested some $800,000 in its restoration. For many years Rhinelander spent two months a year living in his castle, until his death in 1946. The town of Oberwesel bought it from his son in 1950, and from 1957 it has housed a first-class hotel and restaurant, with fantastic views of the Rhine from its rooms, ramparts and terraces.
What is special about Schloss Schoenburg for the Staging Prince? It was the first castle in which I spent a night (as a tourist). After a cruise up the river from Remagen, my wife and I spent a romantic night at Schoenburg in 1968. The hotel garners rave reviews from visitors for its 22 charming guest rooms and and its excellent food and wines and has become a particular favorite of Americans.
Castle photos by Jerry White of The Staging Prince.
Sell Your Castle in Weeks not Months
Castle of the Month: Bayers
November 21, 2009
Chateau de Bayers
Our castle for November-December is Chateau de Bayers, a jewel of a castle near the town of Aunac in the farm country of south-west France. Built on a hilltop near the River Charente in the 15th century on an 11th century foundation and recently restored as a labor of love, it is open to summer visitors. Its most notable feature is a massive crenellated tower, above. Below, we are treated to a personal tour of the castle and grounds by the chatelaine herself, the wife of the retired village doctor, who was delighted to show her castle to a visiting American.
This farmland area has lost many of its working farms as the children have grown and moved to Paris, while the farmhouses have been sold to budget-minded English retirees. We are reminded of the 1919 song in which the farmer’s wife waits for her soldier boy to return from the War, but her husband knows better. Do you know the song? Click here for a rendition that will pick you up faster than a cup of Kenya AA.
Castle photos by Jerry White of The Staging Prince.
Sell Your Castle in Weeks not Months
Castle of the Month: Rochefoucauld
October 30, 2009
Our castle for October is Chateau de la Rochefoucauld, a well-known chateau in the Charente region of France. Perched on a rocky promontory over the River Tardoire, it was built in stages from the 11th to the 18th century and has been owned by the distinguished Rochefoucauld family throughout its entire history. Its phenomenal grand staircase (ceiling shown below), added about 1520, may (or may not) have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci, who was living in Amboise on the Loire and died in 1519. Its library is renowned. The chateau is a popular destination for visitors to the nearby Cognac region.
The market town that grew up around the castle is picturesque, with the river winding through and the Gothic collegiate church with its exquisite rose window, rare among all the 14th century Romanesque churches that dot the countryside.
Castle photos by Jerry White of The Staging Prince.
Sell Your Castle in Weeks not Months