Castle in the Clouds

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The Castle is a turn-of-the-century Arts & Crafts mansion built on a 5,500-acre estate by Thomas Plant, a shoe manufacturing tycoon. At one point, 1900 craftsmen built this stone and wood structure, complete with turrets, leaded glass windows, many modern inventions of the day (round spray showers, interlockiing kitchen tiles, a dumb waiter, etc.), and a Tiffany skylight. A rags to riches to rags story, Thomas Plant made his money inventing machines that produced shoes and owned shoe factories, supposedly invested in Russian war bonds as Teddy Roosevelt had suggested--just before the czar's were overthrown. More bad investments followed, as well as the great depression, and he lived in the house until his death only through the grace of his creditors (after all, he had built a home in Maine for the elderly poor when he was rich). But Castle in the Clouds is more than a wonderful mansion with a 360 degree view of Lake Winnipesaukee and surrounding mountains. The Castle property (Plant wanted to own everything he could see around him) is now preserved by a conservation group and features over 45 miles of wonderful hiking trails (some old carriage roads) that wind up into the mountains. There are beautiful gardens around the mansion, some spectacular waterfalls, a cafe and patio also with unbelievable views with surprisingly excellent lunches and snacks, an art gallery and gift shop. There's also Shannon Pond where kids (or you) can feed impressively large trout. This place must look fabulous during fall foliage time--but it was fun this summer, too. www.castleintheclouds.org/