Boldt Castle is located on Heart Island (New York) and is an important tourist attraction in its region.
Hart Island is part of the city of Alexandria in Jefferson County, New York. Hart Island is part of the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River along the northern border of New York State. Boldt Castle is the island's main landmark and area attraction. Hart is accessible by ferry and most of the structures here can be explored by tourists for an additional fee. In addition, there is a US customs and border guard service for visitors from Canada who require proper identification as the island is a US border area. The other two buildings on the island, the Alster Tower and the Transformer Tower, are both open to the public. The transformer was created to house a generator and power the island, and is now largely a museum showcasing how electricity was produced in the early 1900s. The Alster Tower was deliberately designed with sloping and uneven walls, ceilings and roofs.
Let's find out the history of this castle …
The owner of Boldt Castle was the German George Boldt, who crossed to the States as a 13-year-old boy in 1865. Trying his hand at hotels and restaurants in New York, then in Texas and Philadelphia, he eventually succeeded as a manager in the hotel business and became the owner several Waldorf Astoria hotels in Manhattan. Bolt found his happiness in Philadelphia, having married for love Louise Augustine Keher, who gave him a son and daughter.
He loved her so much that he was ready for any deeds for her. Having bought one island, called Dark (“Dark”, “Gloomy”), he renamed it Heart Island and began to build a castle on it for his beloved wife, modeled on the Prussian, medieval ones.
Boldt hired the best architects and craftsmen of the time. 300 people worked on the island at the same time. Construction work did not stop for four years. The castle turned out to be magnificent - majestic and romantic. There was no more than a month left until the end of the work, George was already anticipating what a surprise his truly royal gift would be for his wife, when a telegram was delivered to the island: Louise died suddenly. The grief-stricken knight immediately stopped all work and left, never to return here.
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This sad story took place in 1904.
In the new house, it was planned to build 127 rooms, 365 windows, for the number of days a year, a swimming pool and an elevator like in New York houses. About 300 people were involved in the construction of the house and the construction was planned to be completed by Valentine's Day 1905, about 5 million dollars were invested, but the sudden death of Louise stops the construction and the castle, almost no one has been involved in more than 70 years.
In 1977, the castle (very neglected and plundered over the years) was bought out by the state and over the past 34 years more than two floors (six of them) were restored and from 25 to 35 million were invested in reconstruction.
Construction on Boldt Castle began in 1900. The building was designed for George Boldt by the Philadelphia-based architect William Havitt. The castle is close in its design to contemporary architecture in France, in particular the style of "Chateauesque". Havitt's design was not based on any specific rules, so the building does not have a specific symmetry. The castle has six towers and twenty, clearly defined by their shape, elevations of roofs. Boldt Castle consists of 127 rooms (including thirty bathrooms) spread over seven floors, surrounding a rotunda topped by a large glass dome.
Around the central atrium (on the ground floor level) there are five main rooms: a reception room, a library, a dining room, a billiards room and a ballroom. Other areas open to the public are located in the basement, this is the pool, and on the fifth floor there is a special room for drinking tea, which opens onto a roof terrace.
There are also three other architectural monuments on the island that are open to the public. This is the large yacht dock that has survived to this day, the Alster tower, nicknamed "the little castle" and the monumental Arc de Triomphe, dating from 1900, which served as the "water gate" to the lagoon. Boldt wanted a dome to rise on it, as a sign of his love for his wife.
Today, the building has been partially restored; they tried to preserve the style of the building in the spirit of the beginning of the 20th century. The granite walls are decorated with decorative details, and the roof is also clad.
On the ground floor there is a museum dedicated to the owners of the castle and the history of the entire region. Visitors can explore the castle's 120 rooms, with magnificent views of the surrounding gardens. Alternatively, walk the cobbled paths leading to other buildings. On the territory of the castle are located the Power House, which supplies the entire region with electricity, the Alster Tower, the tallest building in the region and a gazebo.