You don’t have to go to Europe to see stunning castles — there are plenty located right here in the United States. These castles have rich histories and amazing architecture, and they’re home to all sorts of events, including special tours, dining opportunities, and even movie nights. If you’re looking to step into the world of “Bridgerton,” then a visit to one of these castles will have you feeling like royalty.
Chippewa Bay, New York
Singer Castle was built in 1905 by the Bourne Family, and it remained in their possession until the 1960s. The castle was named after the Singer Sewing Machine Company, since Frederick Bourne was its fifth president. Granite was quarried from Oak Island and brought to build the castle, where Italian stonemasons shaped it to create the structure.
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The castle is elaborate and impressive, with its four stories and 28 rooms. It features a boathouse that includes a workshop and powerhouse, as well as tunnels, turrets, and a two-story ice house. There are also dungeons and underground passageways. Today, visitors can tour the property, stay on the island, get married on the property, and even rent the Royal Suite, an entire wing of the castle.
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Asheville, North Carolina
The Biltmore is a 250-room French Renaissance chateau that was built across a six-year time span beginning in 1889. George Vanderbilt constructed the home, which features more than four acres of floor space. It includes 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.
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The Biltmore has a rich history. The property was used to store art from the National Gallery of Art during World War II. In 1983, the Biltmore Estate Wine Company was established on the property, and in 2001, the Inn on Biltmore Estate opened, allowing the public to enjoy the lavish grounds.
Gloucester, Massachusetts
The Hammond Castle is a European-style castle built in the late 1920s by John Hays Hammond, Jr. The castle is located on a bluff that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It features many of Hammond’s own designs, including a pool to keep the courtyard humid enough to support the growth of tropical plants.
One of the most notable features of the castle is the pipe organ which was built over a 10-year period. The massive organ consists of 8,400 pipes, making it one of the largest pipe organs in the world. It’s positioned within the Great Hall and features a device that records the songs that are played on it.
East Haddam, Connecticut
The Gillette Castle was built by William Hooker Gillette, who was an actor, director, and playwright. The 184-acre estate features the 24-room mansion that was built to resemble a Medieval castle. The property has beautiful vistas and wooded trails, and its construction took 20 men from 1914 to 1919 to complete it.
The castle features a steel framework and is made with fieldstone. The woodwork is made with white oak, and the castle features 47 doors, each with an external latch carved of wood. No two doors are the same. It also features designs like a movable table on tracks and light switches that are made of carved wood.
New York
The Belvedere Castle is a miniature castle situated on Vista Rock in Central Park. It was designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould and was completed in 1872. The Italian name, “The Belvedere,” translates to “Beautiful view.” While it was originally intended to be a lookout tower, this castle now features windows, doors, and plenty of landscaping.
In 1919, the castle was converted into a weather station by the U.S. Weather Bureau. The building was left vacant in the 1960s and was vandalized. Today, the castle houses a visitor center and a gift shop, continuing to give visitors beautiful views of Central Park.
San Simeon, California
Hearst Castle began as an estate for a newspaper magnate, encompassing 165 rooms and 123 acres complete with gardens, pools, and walkways. The property was built to showcase George Hurst’s art collection. Today, the property is a tourist destination and a California State Park.
Hearst filled his property with thousands or art pieces he selected specifically for the estate. They still decorate the main building, guest houses, and gardens. Multiple tours are available, including a Hearst and Hollywood tour, holiday twilight tour and a private guided tour.
Charlevoix, Michigan
In 1918, Albert Loeb built Castle Farms to be a model dairy farm. Loeb was acting President of Sears, Roebuck, and Co. at the time. The farm was one of the largest in the county, and even had its own baseball team called the Sodbusters. Over the coming decades, the property was opened to the public, featured a working artist studio, and then became a concert venue that hosted performers like Aerosmith, Tina Turner, and The Doobie Brothers.
In 2001, Linda Mueller bought the property and extensively renovated it. She added gardens, remodeled wings so that they resemble the original blueprints, and replaced roofs. Today, the property hosts weddings and family-friendly events.
Moultonborough, New Hampshire
The Castle in the Clouds was originally known as the Lucknow mansion, which was built from 1913 to 1914. The 6,300-acre property included a 16-room arts and crafts mansion, as well as a stable, a six-car garage, a greenhouse, two gate houses, a man-made lake, and a Lake Winnipesaukee boathouse.
Architect J. Williams Beal designed the mansion to reflect Arts and Crafts architecture, which emphasized the importance of living in harmony with nature. The property features steel beams, terra cotta blocks, and poured concrete, making it state-of-the-art for its time. Other amenities like a central vacuum and house-wide interphone demonstrate how cutting-edge the property was. Today, the castle is open for tours, dining, special events, weddings, and hiking.
Alexandria Bay, New York
George C. Boldt, a millionaire, built the Boldt Castle beginning in 1900. It took 300 workers to create this 120-room castle. The Boldt Castle has six stories, tunnels, Italian gardens, a drawbridge, and a children’s playhouse. After his wife died in 1904, Boldt stopped construction on the castle, and it sat empty for 73 years.
The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the castle in 1977 and has since worked to preserve the property. Today, the public can tour the property, stay in the castle while on vacation, and even hold a wedding on the beautiful grounds.
Newport, Rhode Island
The Breakers is one of the Newport properties that were designed as summer cottages. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt bought a wooden house called The Breakers in 1885, but after the house burned down, he commissioned a villa’s construction. The result was tThe Breakers, a 70-room property. It was completed in 1895.
Since the original house burned down, The Breakers features several fire preventative measures, including the boiler room’s location beneath the lawn instead of under the building. The building also features brick and steel construction to help prevent fire damage. The Preservation Society of Newport County bought the house in 1972, and it’s now a National Historic Landmark.
Galveston, Texas
Bishop’s Palace was built by Colonel Walter Gresham, a lawyer. Nicholas Clayton was the architect and helped to design this Victorian Castle. Its construction lasted from 1886 to 1892, and the result is an ornate building full of rich designs and luxury materials and furnishings.
Bishop’s Palace features fireplaces from all over the world. One is even lined with pure silver. It’s also built with colored stone, stained-glass windows, and rare woods. There are plenty of details to see, including bronze dragons. Also called the Gresham House, this beautiful property is available for tours and hosts special events throughout the year.
Calistoga, California
Castello di Amorosa is a 13th century Tuscan castle winery. Winemaker Dario Sattui built the property in honor of his Italian heritage, while also encompassing his love of medieval architecture. Sattui bought 171 acres of land in 1993, and construction on the castle began in 1994.
The 107-room castle covers three acres and features four underground and four above-ground levels. It was built to be completely authentic, and was created with old, hand-made materials and the same building methods that would have been used 700 years ago. More than 8,000 tons of hand-chiseled local stone and nearly one million antique bricks imported from Europe went into its construction. That construction took 15 years and was completed in 2007.
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Henry Chapman Mercer built Fonthill Castle from 1908 to 1912. The castle combines medieval, gothic, and Byzantine architecture. It’s one of the earlier buildings that were constructed with poured reinforced concrete. The castle also served to showcase Mercer’s collection of Moravian tiles.
Mercer left the castle to his housekeeper and her husband. His will requested that the housekeeper live in the house and hold occasional tours, which she did until she died in 1975. Today, the castle is a historic house museum and a National Historic Landmark.
Honolulu
Iolani Palace was built from 1879 to 1882 and served as the residence of Hawaiian monarchs. Queen Liluokalani and her brother, King Kalakaua, lived in the palace, and Liluokalani lived there when she was overthrown and imprisoned. After the monarchy was overthrown, the palace became the Provisional Government headquarters, later becoming the capitol building for the State of Hawaii.
If you visit Iolani Palace, you can tour the first and second floors. The first floor features public reception areas like the Grand Hall and the Throne Room. Private suites, including the King’s and Queen’s suites and the Music Room, are on the second floor. The second floor is also home to the Imprisonment Room, which is the room where Queen Liluokani was put under house arrest after her government was overthrown.
Tarrytown, New York
Lyndhurst is one of the premiere Gothic Revival mansions in America. It was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1838. It became a residence for the Paulding, Merritt, and Gould families. It features grounds with a park-like design, as well as plenty of rich furnishings.
All three families that lived in the estate shaped its design, eventually expanding the house from a country villa into more of a Gothic mansion. It’s situated on the Hudson River and is open for guided tours today. You can also purchase a daily grounds pass that allows you to explore the property for the day on your own time.
Lakewood, Washington
There are relatively few private castles in the United States, but Thornewood Castle is one of them. This rare property is a historic site as well as a home. It’s located on a lakeshore and is a premiere wedding venue.
Thornewood Castle was built by Chester A. Thorne in 1908. The 27,000-square foot property is built in the Gothic Tudor style, and while it was once a single family home, it has evolved to become a country inn. Presidents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt even stayed in the presidential suite. The grounds feature a sunken English perennial garden, as well as a lake suitable for swimming, fishing, and boating.
Newport, Rhode Island
Construction on the Marble House began in 1888 and concluded in 1892. It was designed as a summer house for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, and its construction included 500,000 cubic feet of marble. It cost the equivalent of $11 million today and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
In addition to self-guided walking tours of the house, you can take part in the audio children's tour, designed for kids under 13. Professional voice actors guide you through the home in a lighthearted way. You can also use the Newport Mansions audio tour app to learn more about the house as you explore it in person.
Milford, Pennsylvania
In 1886, James and Mary Pinchot built Grey Towers as their summer retreat. Their son, Gifford Pinchot, became the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service and also served two terms as the Pennsylvania Governor. In 1914, Gifford married Cornelia Bryce Pinchot.
Gifford and Cornelia moved to Grey Towers and then made many changes to the home’s design. They entertained in the home and their son, Dr. Gifford Bryce Pinchot, ultimately donated Grey Towers to the U.S. Forest Service. Today, Grey Towers serves as a conference, education, and leadership center promoting conservation.
Beacon, New York
Bannerman Castle is situated on Bannerman Island, which is accessible only by boat and which was once considered to be uninhabitable. Francis Bannerman spotted the island while he was canoeing on the Hudson. He began construction on Bannerman Castle in 1901 and designed the property to resemble a Scottish castle.
Today, the castle and property are protected by the Bannerman Castle Trust. Tours are open to the public, and options include self-guided music tours, farm to table dinners on the island, movie nights at the castle, walking tours and island cruises, and kayaking tours.
Little Falls, New York
Beardslee Castle was built by Augustus Beardslee in 1860. Masons from Ireland and Switzerland contributed their craftsmanship to the construction, and the building resembles an Irish castle. A fire in 1919 nearly destroyed the property and damaged most of the stonework, while a second fire in 1989 largely destroyed the kitchen area.
The castle was restored and reopened in 1994. Today, it’s home to a restaurant, as well as The Dungeon bar and grill located downstairs. The property is also available for weddings and hosts banquets and other special events. Look for the seasonal unique events like a psychic fair and murder mystery dinner series.
