A castle, a scavenger hunt, Sherlock Holmes, river views, a ferry ride, and Christmas decorations - what a great way to spend a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend day! Gillette's Castle is decorated for the Christmas season by Thanksgiving and opens to the public from Saturday November 30th – Sunday December 22nd, Saturdays and Sundays only from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
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| The castle sits on the most southerly hill in a chain of CT hills known as the Seven Sisters |
In addition to nature's stone work, you will also find many impressive man-built stone walls and structures on the castle property.
At one time, William Gillette had three miles of train tracks on the property for his own personal small train. I can just imagine visiting him back in the day and being invited on a train ride through the woods! Today visitors can walk along the trail and through the train tunnel left behind.
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| JoEllen, Donna, Linda, and I take a short break |
Next, it was time to head inside, where a volunteer reviewed the rules and made sure we got a pencil and checklist for the scavenger hunt. We had so much fun hunting for items like "Carolers near a train" and "eagle wings" that I forgot to take photos of some of my favorite things, like the hand carved doors and light switches which all have their own unique style.
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| Gillette's Castle - western facade |
William Gillette was an American actor best known for his role as Sherlock Holmes. However, he was also a playwright, director, inventor, and creative genuis! On the tour of his unique home you will see many mementos from his acting career, as well as collections of cats, books, art, and trains. The castle is built from local stone, and decorated in natural materials such as jute and wood wall-coverings, stone and wood floors, and hand-carved wood ceiling beams and doors.
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| In the living room, the Christmas tree is decorated with dried hydrangea blossoms and peacock feathers. |
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| A wishing pond is found in the south-facing green house. |
Most of the seating, cabinets, and dressers are built in place. A few pieces, like the dining table and workshop desk, are on tracks that have been built into the floor.
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| Built in seating in the living room |
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| Living room viewed from second floor balcony |
Back outside...
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| A few trails lead to views of the Connecticut River. |
After our scavenger hunt in the castle (we found all the items on our list), we drove by the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, crossed the river, drove south on Rt. 154 to Chester and took this historic ferry back across the river. From the ferry, there are spectacular views of Gillette's Castle which I was so busy enjoying I forgot to take a picture of!
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| One last look at Gillette's Castle from the field stone veranda on the south side |
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