I know I promised the castles of Maine, but Jeff and I decided that we would take a road trip soon so we could get our own photos of some of those buildings.   Also, due to the small number of castles in Maine and Vermont, I am thinking I will combine them in one post.  So instead, today, I am moving on to the Massachusetts castles.

The castles I’m including in my list are publicly owned or are accessible by the public. There are many more privately owned castles, and a very extensive listing of all known castles by state can be found here If there is a building you would consider a castle that is not included in my article, chances are it is probably listed at this link. If not, contact him, he would love to hear about it.

This time, I had to decide whether to include armories, since some resources in my research on castles included them. And I have to agree that many are very castle-like in appearance, but  I chose not to include them.  I only included the one in Boston because it is now known as the “Park Plaza Castle.”    I did include some structures which I feel are just as “castle-like” as others on lists that I found elsewhere but were not included, such as Castle Hill on the Crane Estate.  It’s really a very large estate (as seen below) and has many stone walls and outbuildings.

To begin with, though, we have two castles with the Bancroft name.

Bancroft’s Castle-Groton MA-1906

Built on Gibbet Hill by General William Bancroft for his wife, it was to be part of a larger estate known as Shawfieldmont. The general ran out of funds so the larger estate was never built. What remains of the structure is what is left after a fire in the 1930s when the Groton Hunt Club owned it.

In 2000, the castle became part of a protected open space in Groton, so is now open to the public.  There are hiking trails and a farm-to-table restaurant in a salvaged barn nearby. Jeff and I visited during Covid in 2020, and it was a good walk up the hill. But once you are up there you will be rewarded with a great view of the surrounding valley and town. Here is an article that Jeff wrote about our visit in mid-October 2020.

There is a wonderful video of the castle and surrounding landscape. There is also a virtual hike that shows the easy walk to the castle and this video shows that safety railings have been installed

Bancroft Tower-Worcester MA-1900

Bancroft Tower, photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The tower was commissioned by Stephen Salisbury III in honor of George Bancroft, a Worcester citizen who had become Secretary of the Navy, Founder of the US Naval Academy, and US Minister to Great Britain and Germany, and intended it to be used for recreation by the public.    The tower was eventually donated to the Worcester Parks Department in 1912, and is located near Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Prospect Hill in Salisbury Park This location provides views of the city of Worcester.

The tower is a façade that from the front looks like the entrance to a full castle.  The tower is 56 feet high it the highest point and is constructed of stone and granite. The tower itself is closed off now for safety reasons.  

Blantyre Castle – Lenox-1903

I don’t quite consider this a castle, more like a very large estate, and there are other estates that are more castle-like than this one, in my opinion.  But since it was known as a ‘castle,’ I am including it on the listing.  It was built by Robert W. Patterson of New York City.  The design was modeled after his wife’s ancestral home,  Lanarkshire, in Blantyre, Scotland.  The estate included stables, a carriage house, an icehouse, and extensive greenhouses.

The Blantyre estate is now a luxury hotel and spa, so technically, it could be ‘visited’ by the public. The official website can be found here where you can see photos of the hotel.

Lisa wanted to visit this castle-like resort. It was a foggy morning and if I win the lottery we may stay there. This is a Tudor-style mansion built in 1902 and is set on 110 acres. Exploring the resort would have been nice as there are wonderful views of the beautiful Berkshires of western Massachusetts.

Boston University Castle-Boston-1904

Boston University Castle was built by William Lindsey, a businessman, poet, and playwright, his inspiration was the Tudor mansions of England. After being sold a couple of times, the mansions were donated to Boston University in 1939 and used as the residence for a succession of University presidents for many years.

Now the castle is used for receptions and concerts but also rents it out for special occasions. Part of the lower section operates or did operate as a pub for students.

Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, Ipswich MA-1928

Castle Hill was the summer home of Richard T. Crane, Jr. The existing building, which is the second home built on the site, was built in the Stuart style of the 17th century, and furnished with period antiques.

A pair of griffins guard the main entrance. The most magnificent of the grounds’ gardens is the “Mall, “ which is a “Grande Allee,” a 160 feet wide corridor leading to the sea which is lined with evergreens and Roman-style statues.

The grounds were designed by the Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted who designed Central Park in New York.

The estate was designed to overlook Ipswich Bay and includes many outbuildings. There are many trails and roads on the 165-acre estate. The grounds are open year-round and there are guided tours of the estate and a wide range of programs offered to the public. You can find out more about when the grounds and castle are open here.

Several movies have been filmed here.  It was featured as the home of eccentric millionaire Daryl Van Horne, played by Jack Nicholson in the 1987 version of The Witches of Eastwick. It was also featured in The Flowers in the Attic, filmed that same year, and nearly all the scenes were filmed here. Also, a 2009 film, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, was filmed almost entirely here.

Hammond Castle-Gloucester-MA-1926

Built by John Hays Hammond Jr. and is considered the inventor of the remote control, holding more patents than anyone except Thomas Edison. Hammond was fascinated with castles and built the Gothic Medieval castle fashioned after European castles. The courtyard is created from 15th-century European shop fronts he purchased and shipped home. He collected medieval memorabilia to furnish his castle.

This is considered one of the most accurate reproductions of a medieval castle in the United States by some castle “experts”, although it depicts many different time periods. It should be kept in mind that this was his primary residence, was built in three years and he incorporated details that were not so castle-like, such as a swimming pool.

Herreshoff Castle – Marblehead, MA-1920’s

Originally known as Castle Brattahlid, it was built by Marblehead artist, Waldo Ballard. He claimed the castle was based on Eric the Red’s castle in Greenland, but the design is very Gothic and not really of the period of Eric the Red. The castle was sold to L. Francis Herreshoff in 1945.

It is now run as a bed and breakfast where you can stay in the carriage house. It is furnished with an eclectic collection. The castle is easily seen from the street and from adjacent to Crocker Park.

Nickerson Castle, Dedham MA-1886

This castle was built by Albert W. Nickerson, who owned mills and was director of a railroad. Nickerson Castle was built in a European tradition, the building had secret passageways,  and underground mazes, and hallways.   Frederick Law Olmsted was the architect to do the landscaping and he designed every aspect to impress viewers. The “castle” was built on top of a rocky hill “so that the Castle and the River appeared magically to carriages or cars arriving through the forested Pine Street entrance”.

So many wonderful features were built into the home that we can’t imagine today. Directly below the study was a wading pool, rifle range, and a dungeon. He had escape routes and secret hiding places built in that were presumably there because Nickerson was concerned that people “would try to murder him for his abundant wealth”.

From all the descriptions, the fabled Hogwarts and Harry Potter comes to mind, which makes the fact that it was later purchased by the Noble & Greenough School kind of interesting.  The 167-acre estate was turned into a boarding school campus for boys and girls.

The castle has been recently undergoing renovation to expand the dining hall and residences.  According to this, much of the original building remains intact, which is good news.

Norumbega Tower-Weston MA-1889

Eben Norton Horsford was a scientist who became obsessed with Vikings and their travels to North America. 

Much like Samuel de Champlain in 1604, who believed that the area around Bangor, Maine was the site of the legendary Norse settlement in North America called Norumbega, Eben Norton Horsford believed the site was in Weston, MA. 

It was there that he had the Norumbega Tower built.

The tower is easily accessible on the side of the road on Norumbega Rd in Weston. More current photos and directions to get to the tower can be found here.

Park Plaza Castle, Boston MA-1897

Park Plaza Castle photo courtesy of Wikipedia contributed by Tom™5″ a link to his image is included in the caption.

Not really a castle, it was originally the Armory of the First Corps of Cadets. The medieval fortress was built so the regiment had a permanent home. Funds were raised to build the armory in the style of the period. The Corps was later re-designated as the 1st Regiment of Engineers.

Today the Armory is now a part of the adjacent Park Plaza Hotel and Tower are used as a banquet facility. It is unclear as to when the Park Plaza acquired it as part of the hotel campus. Interior photos can be seen at the hotel’s website here.

Poets Seat, Greenfield MA

Jeff and I spent more time in Central Massachusetts in 2020 going through places I had bookmarked as worth exploring. We were exploring the Pioneer Valley and had left Historic Deerfield and were heading North on Route 5.

We jumped over onto Route 2A and slowed down to explore some fall colors when I spotted a stone tower on a hill. Jeff turned around and we found by accident, The Poets Seat In Greenfield MA. This was not something I had bookmarked but you should. Jeff wrote about our visit there in this article which talks about Mount Tom, Old Deerfield, and the Posts Seat Tower.

Prospect Hill Castle, Somerville MA

Prospect Hill Castle and park, overlook Union Square, a neighborhood of Somerville MA. It was built as a monument to the soldiers of the Revolution and Civil War.  The location played an important part locally in the Revolutionary War, being a lookout point known as the “Citadel”. It is claimed to be the location the first American flag, called the Grand Union flag, was flown by George Washington on January 1, 1776, but other locales claim that distinction as well.

After the war, a grist mill operated on the location and then became unoccupied. At the end of the 19th century, there was a movement to preserve the location and in 1902, it was purchased by the city. The 42-foot granite tower, in the Gothic Revival style, was erected and is part of a city park open to the public.  Every January 1, the raising of the flag is commemorated. I can’t find information as to whether the inside of the tower is accessible. For more of the history of the location and a photo gallery see http://www.muldermedia.com/prospecthill/index.html

There is lots of confusion on the multiple Searles Estates, there being one in Great Barrington, MA which is now privately owned,  one in Methuen, MA, one in Windham, NH, and a Searles Mansion, also known as Dream House, which was on Block Island, RI, which were all built by Edward F. Searles.

Searles Castle-Methuen MA-1884

Preservation of Searles Buildings

Edward Francis Searles was born in Methuen, MA to a farmer. He was an interior and architectural designer. Searles’ wife was a wealthy woman and they met when she hired Searles as an interior designer. Their first home in Massachusetts was Kellogg Terrace, the estate in Great Barrington, MA.

After his wife’s death in 1891, he built several grand structures including the castle in Methuen known as the Edward F. Searles Estate, which started as several adjoining properties known as Pine Lodge. One of the properties was his family’s original farm. As time progressed, more buildings, towers, stone walls with crenellation, and gatehouses were added to the estate, growing into an enclosed castle-like compound.

The Searles Castle was sold to the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in 1957 and became a convent and school. To the dismay of many, the property was divided up and modern buildings were erected by the convent as seen in the photo above. Although the convent owns the property, it is sometimes open to the public and the Searles Chapel on the property is now a Catholic Church, Our Lady of Sacred Heart.

For more information on the various properties that Edward Searles purchased as part of the estate, click here.

There is a Preservation Group that raises funds to restore the buildings of Edward Searles still owned by the city of Methuen.

Winnekenni Castle-Haverhill, MA- 1873

Dr. James R. Nichols, a Haverhill chemist, and agriculturalist was inspired by stone buildings during his visits to England. He built the Baronial style, Winnekenni Castle, as a summer home. It is two stories with two three-story towers, a small rooftop turret, and a crenelated roof line with walls that are four feet thick. The castle had a Grecian drawing room, a Pompeian-style dining room, and access to the roof from the towers.

The city purchased the building in 1895. In 1976, the city was able to purchase a 50-acre parcel between the castle and Kenoza Lake which is now conservation land, and returned the property to the appearance of the estate it originally was. Although the interior of the building was damaged by fire in 1969, the castle was remodeled and is now maintained by a foundation. It is available for functions, otherwise, it is only open to the public during pre-scheduled events.

I hope you are enjoying this series of Castles in New England.  I know I am enjoying learning about them. ~Lisa Folger

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

Visit my Amazon affiliate store for items that Lisa and I have curated for you. These items are either New England-made or things we think will make your fall foliage trip more successful.

• Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
• Visit my Amazon store to pick up New England-related materials
• Visit my Pictorem Gallery (Free shipping in the US and Canada)
• My Facebook foliage page
• Threads.net/@Jeff_Foliage
• Follow our new Fall Foliage FB Group!
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• You can visit Lisa’s Artist Facebook Page by clicking here