Cornwall Connecticut Castle!

Cornwall Connecticut Castle!

Cornwall Connecticut Castle!

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New York socialite, Charlotte Bronson Hunnewell was wealthy having come from an old Massachusetts family that had made its fortune in banking and railroading. Not royally connected, she still had a fixation on becoming an aristocrat. When she married Dr. Walton Martin, successful New York surgeon, in 1920, with her idea that aristocrats had country estates, the couple built this fairytale chateau on 275.5 acres. The entire property appears to have come from the pages of Hans Christian Andersen and it is true that the architectural style she chose was known as Storybook style, a short lived but highly popular style of the time. And though it isn’t in the UK, the Connecticut town was named after England's Cornwall, the next best thing for an aristocrat. Hunnewell was so caught up in her illusions of grandeur that she wore only formal clothes at all times and Dr. Martin was seen riding a white horse across the fields wearing a white cape with red lining. This was long before Cornwall was an outpost of the New York rich and famous, so the couple was quite a curiosity to the locals of the farming community.

For all her strangeness, as is the case with many highly creative people, Hunnewell-Martin certainly got it right when she developed and built their very romantic estate. Nestled on rolling green meadows, surrounded by woods, babbling brooks and waterfalls, the chateau was built of local field stone and outfitted with historical and artistic building materials the couple collected in Europe. Only highly skilled craftsmen were allowed to touch the structure and the details of their handiwork is exceptional. Completed in 1921, the structure is surrounded by a large retaining wall, has arched entrances, gargoyles, nine fireplaces, several fairytale towers and the centuries-old European artifacts. The 8,412 square foot interior houses seven bedrooms and ten bathrooms in addition to the formal rooms. All mechanical systems and conveniences have been updated to today’s expectations. Additional buildings include a stone gatehouse with two two-bedroom apartments, a one-bedroom guest house adjacent to the pool and spa, a potting shed, a three-stall horse barn with tack room, a chauffeur’s garage with an apartment above, and another garage, which together provide storage for 18 cars. The property also has its own licensed helipad.

Historical storybook castle in Cornwall, CT, designed by architect Edward C. Dean, comprised of unique materials that the original owners collected from Europe, now priced at $8.85 million.

Source: iragoldspiel.williampitt.com