May 30, Dark Island
Today we cruised approximately 25 miles from Gananoque downstream (east) toward Montreal to Dark Island (known as Jorstadt Island on the charts) in the middle of the St Lawrence Seaway. We wanted to see the Singer Castle and, as they are closed during the week, we cannot take the tour until tomorrow. Linda suggested we just anchor out until tomorrow and on a whim we called the island and got Tom (the general manager) and asked if we could tie up for the night and take the tour in the morning. He said yes and here we are all by ourselves in this fantastic setting. We are docked at the foot of Singer Castle and are spending the night here and will tour Singer Castle when it opens at 10 am tomorrow. The Castle (which occupies the whole island) is only open on weekends (tomorrow is Saturday) until the season picks up around June 15th. The weather is beautiful today, clear with almost no wind and temperatures in the high sixty's.
In 1902, Frederick Bourne, fourth president of Singer Sewing Machine Company (he was responsible for $1 down and $1 per week for a Singer Sewing Machine which revolutionized the business and made Singer an international success), purchased a six acre granite island and commissioned architect Ernest Flagg to design a "hunting lodge". Flagg's design (Flagg was the architect who designed the Chrysler building in Manhattan) was based on the description of a hunting lodge called "The Towers" at Woodstock Park in Sir Walter Scott's novel "WOODSTOCK". In the summer of 1905, the Bourne family moved into a 28 room structure with granite walls and turrets, a dungeon, a labyrinth of secret passages. An elaborate clock tower that rises five stories above the St Lawrence Seaway. There is a granite arched great room complete with suits of armor. The library has an extensive collection of books. Many rooms have floor to ceiling windows and great views of the River. In 2003, after nearly 100 years as a private residence, the current owners opened the Castle to the public. The tour features much of the original furnishings including Italian marble fireplaces, English China and oriental rugs. Many boatloads of topsoil were brought to the granite island so plants could be grown. Now there are acres of forest, lawns and gardens. From what we can see so far the grounds of the Castle are beautifully maintained and make it look like the Castle is located in a park.
Singer Castle, has been used as a private home since it was finished in 1905, and stands in contrast to Boldt Castle, which was never occupied. In addition to now having tours, has made available for private rental, the "Royal Suite" in Bourne's guest wing. We are very comfortable aboard KOKOMO II. The Castle even has Wi-fi which we are using to write this blog post.
posted by KOKOMO II @ 2:30 PM
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