Boldt Castle, Heart Island

August 8.

After exploring the children's playhouse on Heart Island, Mom and I headed up toward the main house.  If you could call it a house.  It really is a castle!

The pool room.

The ballroom.

Dining room.

Butler's pantry.

Pool room.

A sitting room/salon.

George Boldt's bedroom.

Louise's bedroom.

On these upper levels, outside the rooms, we walked around the hallway and admired the Tiffany dome.  The pictures obviously don't do it justice.

Detail in the ceiling.

Looking back down to the main floor.

Detail in the ceiling of one of the unfinished upper level rooms.

The view.

Walking back downstairs to the main foyer.

I sat in the middle of the stairs for this shot.  :)

Louise Boldt.

We wandered a bit outside...

Railing detail.  I so love this!

The dovecote.

Occasionally, we saw a large ship go by.

Time for a selfie with the main castle in the background!

The power house.

View from our boat back to Alex Bay.

We rounded out our day with a nice meal at Riley's By the River.  What a great day spent together!


Back to life,
Christine

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A Playhouse for Children

August 8.

After our two-hour boat tour on the St. Lawrence River, we reached our destination:  Heart Island.  In 1900, George Boldt began this labor of love, a castle for his beloved wife Louise.  As the castle neared completion in early 1904, Louise died.  George halted all work on the castle, and never returned to the island.  The buildings fell into disrepair, most were vandalized and many items were stolen.  The Thousand Island Bridge Authority acquired the island and began preserving the property in the 1970s.  Work continues now, and Mom and I had the wonderful chance to visit.

The "castle" you see below is actually the island's power house!

Walking around the perimeter of the island.

Below is the children's playhouse.  I marvel that someone would build such a structure for children on the edge of the island!

Enjoy this little tour of the children's playhouse at Boldt Castle, on Heart Island.

A partially restored fireplace in the first room we entered.

The bowling alley.

What a beautiful structure!  I can't wait to show you the main house.  It's amazing.


Back to life,
Christine

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One Thousand Islands

On a beautiful Friday, Mom and I drove to Alexandria Bay--she drove and I navigated with my smartphone--to spend the day together.  We decided to start our time in Alex Bay with a two-hour boat tour on the St. Lawrence River, just to sit and relax and enjoy the sun and scenery.

Our tour boat.

A jetski-powered jet pack!

Below is the beautiful scene we started off with.  That island out there with what looks like a castle on it was our final destination:  Heart Island, where Boldt Castle is located.

Eagles nest on the river buoys.

One of several sea liners we saw on the river.

Border patrol--we were entering Canadian waters!

The Thousand Islands Bridge connects the U.S. with Canada.

The shortest international bridge in the world!

One island is in Canada, and one is in the U.S.

Two glorious hours on the water later, we arrived at Heart Island.  That castle below is actually the power house, which generates power to run electricity on this island home that was never a home.  More on that in the next post.  :)

Back to life,
Christine

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