Searles Castle

USA / Massachusetts / Great Barrington /
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The Searles Castle is a romantically imagined castle-style house in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Built in the 1880s, and in the French chateau-style, it has seven stories and includes a "dungeon" basement. There are 40 rooms containing over 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of floor space, as well as 36 fireplaces.

It was commissioned in 1888 by Mary Hopkins, widow of railroad millionaire Mark Hopkins. She married Edward Francis Searles, who had designed the interior, while the castle was being built. Hopkins died in 1891, but Searles maintained the castle until his death in 1920. After his death, the structure was used as a private girls' school for 30 years, then passed through various owners and was used as a storage area and conference center.

Since the mid-1980s it has housed John Dewey Academy, a school for troubled teens, which put the castle on the market in 2007. The $15 million asking price, and the elaborate and romantic architecture, attracted some press coverage of the listing. (credit Wikipedia)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Francis_Searles
www.jda.org/
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searles_Castle_(Massachusetts)
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Coordinates:   42°11'22"N   73°21'41"W

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  • www.raveis.com is the listing agent for property and has additional photos.
  • Searles Castle in Great Barrington, Massachusetts has 40 rooms and seven turrets. The home, which has most recently served as a private school is now up for sale for $15 million. The castle, which is on 61 acres, has a fascinating history, it is one of two in the New England region (the other is in New Hampshire) that bear the name of Edward Searles. Mary Hopkins, the widow of railroad tycoon Mark Hopkins commissioned the castle which was built in 1888. She hired interior decorator Edward Searles for the project, and they married a year before it was finished (she was 22 years older than he). After she died he stayed in the castle for a time and then after his death it has been a private private school, conference center among other businesses and was most recently the John Dewey Academy. The castle has 36 fireplaces, a dungeon, and more than 50 rooms for a total of around 60,000 square feet. The finishes here are amazing imported marble, accentuated fireplaces, carved wood ceilings, a Louis XIV drawing room with details in gold and original painted ceiling, music room with 42-ft dome ceiling, a slate roof, hipped and conical roofs accentuated by finials, chimneys, gablets and turrets. It's been sitting on the market since last May for $15 million.
This article was last modified 7 years ago