Monthly Archives: July 2016

Thornewood is located in Lakewood WA and comprises 31,000 sq.  ft.  Starting in 1908, construction  took four years at a cost of $1,000,000 ($10,000,000 in today’s dollars).  Four-hundred-year-old bricks from an English castle were used.  Later development reduced the acreage from 110 to just 4; however, restoration has brought back much of it’s previous splendor. A … Continue reading »

Rhodes Hall is one of the last great original  homes on Peachtree St. in Atlanta. It was completed in 1904 and built by a successful furniture retailer who offered reasonably priced furniture and installment plans–both innovations at the time. It cost $50,000 ($700,000 in today’s dollars) to build and boasted over 300 light bulbs at … Continue reading »

Snyder Castle in Camdenton MO. is also known as Ha Ha Tonka (“laughing spirit” in Osage). It was built in 1905 also utilizing local stone materials. Unfortunately, Snyder did not enjoy his new home for long as he was killed in one of Arkansas’ first auto accidents. It sat unfinished for 16 years, then tragedy … Continue reading »

The last castle isn’t really a castle at all–it was a “summer cottage” built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II. It has 70 rooms and 125,000 sq. ft., of which 62,000 is living area. The Breakers was built between 1893-95 at a cost of $11,000,000 ($110,000,000 in today’s dollars). Almost half of the 70 rooms were for … Continue reading »