Dundas began construction of the castle soon after, but never lived to see it completed, dying in 1921 while the estate was in the final stages of construction. After Gilbert passed away in 1911, the land and lodge were sold to Maurice Sternbeck, before coming into the possession of Ralph Wurts-Dundas in 1915. The name of Craig-E-Clair is said to have come from Gilbert’s wife, a Scottish native who was reminded of a small town by the name of Craig-E-Clare in Scotland. What truth is reasonably certain, however, is that the structure was originally a summer lodge built by Bradford Lee Gilbert in the early 1880s. With varying dates attributed to its construction, no one seems to be certain of its history. Many thanks to Wilmer Sipple, Don Allen, Evelyn Hass, Louis Hofer, and Doris Bees for their interest in the topic and their assistance in accumulating information.Craig-E-Clair Castle, alternatively called Dundas Castle, is nestled away like a decaying fairy tale in the enshrouding forests of the Catskill Mountains.Įven today, a fair amount of mystery and intrigue surrounds the castle. I have some leads for nothing definitive yet. There are still a number of unanswered questions surrounding the castle and its owners, including, but not limited to what brought them to Sullivan County in the first place, and the significance of the name Craig-E-Clare. Wurts-Dundas lost her mind because of local towns- people’s virulent objection to her habit of riding horseback through the town, tossing gifts to the children. I have also found no evidence to support the story that Mrs. So too, likely, are the stories that several of the rooms had o inside doorknobs ( to keep her within) or fingernail scratches in the woodwork (from her effort to escape.) So stores that there was a section of the castle in which she was kept a virtual prisoner because of her deteriorated mental state are probably untrue. For instance, there seems to be no evidence that Josephine Wurts-Dundas ever lived in the castle or spent much time in the Roscoe area. The stories that seem to be of dubious origin are numerous. There is also a small study on this level, as well as the servant’s wing with kitchen, pantry, refrigerator room, and butler’s pantry with dumbwaiter. Most of the windows have been broken – although the house itself is in pretty good shape. Ahead there are stairs to a long low ceilinged drawing room with a decorative tiled floor and a large curved and painted fireplace. There is a rather small, charming, entrance hall with the circular stairs peeking through a gothic arched door(as all the doors are shaped inside). Within the arched passage, there is a door to the left where you enter the main body of the house. The arched porte-cochere leads into a large courtyard. You enter the estate through a porte-cochere that has 3 story turrets on either side that contain within pale pink marble stairs in each. The 25 ft tall, ornate gates of rusting wrought iron stand suddenly beside the rural road and a drive of dark hemlocks curves upward past the caretaker’s house – (who were nice and like to be asked to see the castle)… further up the long drive you come across the house beyond a field sitting amongst large dark pines at the edge of the mountain. It sits on a smaller mountain overlooking a river and is surrounded by other taller mountains. Although they visited during the construction period, neither Wurts-Dundas and his wife, Josephine – nor anyone else since – has lived in the castle. Never fully completed, the building represents an impressive example of the romanticized medievalism that emerged in American culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Gold leaf was used to cover it.Ĭonstruction on the castle was begun in the early years of the First World War and ceased in 1924, three years after Wurts-Dundas’ death in 1921. The fireplace in the reception room was valued at over $5000 in 1910. The roofing slate came from England, the marble for the floors, fireplace and staircases from Italy, and the iron gates from France. According to Richard Barnes, a student who researched the construction of the castle for his English class, the only native product used in the construction was stone from the Beaverkill River. The castle had 36 rooms and legend passed down from generation to generation says that each room had steam heat and electricity long before any home in the township had them.
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