Touring Boldt Castle

Hi Blog! Today is Wednesday, August 27th (Happy Birthday, Darla!). It is our last full day in Pulaski, New York. We decided to drive up to Alexandria Bay and take the tour of Boldt Castle that we missed out on back in June when we took a three hour cruise of the Thousand Islands. At that time, Kathy's foot was in a walking cast, and we didn't feel that walking around the island in a cast, up and down four flights of stairs, would be a good idea. We took a few pictures of the outside of the castle and learned about its history as we sailed pasted.  Here is the link to our blog from June 22, 2014.

Today, we skipped the three hour tour and just took the water taxi from Uncle Sam Boat Tours in Alexandria Bay. It was just a quick trip across the St. Lawrence River to Hart Island (renamed Heart Island by George C. Boldt). Here you can see from left to right, The Alster Tower (a/k/a Play House), Boldt Castle and The Power House.

Dave is standing under The Arch.  It was modeled after Roman monuments, this water gate was to be the formal entry for launches, delivering guests from larger yachts anchored in deep water.

The actual design of The Alster Tower is a mystery. Some believe it was modeled after some old defense tower on the Alster River in Hamburg, Germany. Others say it would be nearly impossible to design such an irregular form on paper. The Play House was occupied by the Boldt Family during construction of the Castle. It even has a bowling alley in the basement.

The construction of Boldt Castle ceased abruptly in early 1904 after the death of Boldt's wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt. For 73 years, the castle and other stone structures were left exposed to the harsh winter weather and occasional vandals. Here is the interior of the Play House. The stabilization of the foundation is complete, windows have been replaced, but the interior still needs a lot of work.

Here is a view of the bowling alley.

We followed the walkway around the front of the Castle on our way to see the Power House.

Here is Dave trying to reach the coins in the bottom of the fountain.

An arched, stone bridge connects the Power House to the island. The highest tower provided river traffic with an illuminated clock that played chimes. This facility housed steam generators that provided electricity to the island.

The Underground Passage was used to transport goods from barges by way of the tunnel to storage rooms within the Castle's foundation, thereby avoiding deliveries to the main floor.  The passage also houses the electrical wiring and water pipes from the Power House.

The plan is to completely restore the Castle. Several of the rooms have been completed already, but there is still loads of work to be done. Here is a view of the Library.

The Dome of Skylight has also been restored.

We were able to go up into the attic and see how the skylight was constructed.

From the Fourth Floor Observation Deck we could look up and see one of the massive stags that decorate the Castle.

There are a lot of displays throughout the building showing before and after photos.  Here is what a section of the room looks like fully restored.

The Yacht House is located across the water on Wellesley Island.  The family's three yachts and enormous houseboat were accommodated with tall masts and rigging still standing in slips 128 feet long. Quarters for crews and maintenance staff were adjacent, as was a shop where racing launches were built and serviced. The Yacht House was the first of these remarkable buildings to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We ended our adventure with lunch at the Admiral's Inn in Alexandria Bay. Tomorrow we move to Brighton, Ontario.  We'll be spending Labor Day Weekend with Sir William and his family in downtown Toronto.