Bolt Castle, located on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands, was built by George Bolt to show his love and devotion to his wife, Louise. It was intended to be a full size replica of a European castle. (Jeez, the best token of love I ever got was jewelry--next time I'm holding out for a beach house.)
George Bolt was a self-made millionaire who emigrated from Prussia as a young man and eventually made his fortune as proprietor of the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York and owner of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The Bolts often vacationed in the area, and fell in love with with an elegant cottage on Hart Island, directly across from their hotel. When the current owner died, George Bolt quietly purchased the cottage and the island it sat on, and then changed the name from Hart Island (the previous owners last name) to Heart Island, again to express his love for Louise. And then he began construction of his castle, which is currently one of the major tourists attractions in the area.
The castle.
With no expense spared on design, materials, or decor, construction went on for 3 years when suddenly Louise became ill and died. George Bold halted construction immediately and never started it up again. The castle sat in half ruin for 70-plus years before it was taken over and restored. While still unfinished, it is open to tourists and would have been an incredible place had it been finished. Here are some highlights:
This was to be the formal entry to the island and was modeled after the Roman gates.
Here I am marching up the grand stairway off the front entry. The castle had 127 rooms, but only the downstairs and a few rooms on the second floor were partially completed. It was still rather grand, as you can see from the photos below.
That same staircase without me and a bit more background.
The reception area.
The ballroom.
Self explanatory.
Sitting area in George's bedroom.
The view from one of the upstairs bedroom balconies.
This is the Alster Tower, also called the Playhouse. It was built to look like a sand castle and was to be used to entertain guests as well as a place for the children to play. It contained a bowling alley in the basement and plans for the upper rooms included a billiard room, library, cafe, grill and kitchen.
And last, here is the boathouse he built on an adjacent island:
Inside the yacht house are slips 128 feet long (almost 3 of our boat placed end to end would fit in one slip), a shop to build racing yachts and housing for crew and workers. The boat house is bigger than most of the other McMansions we have seen on our trip so far. And that is the end of this brief tour of Bolt Castle. It was kind of cool that when we arrived at the island and paid our admission, we were turned loose to roam the castle and grounds at will. There were other structures and places to visit (a powerhouse and fabulous gardens), but you will have to go yourself to get the whole enchilada.
It's time to move on, and so we are off to Kingston, our first stop in Canada--that's next.
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