On the Market: An Actual Castle on a Vermont Mountaintop
The home may have been inspired by Scotland, but the glimmerstone granite that makes up its wall and amphitheater came right from Cavendish.
Photo by Jim Mauchly
1599 Cavendish Gulf Road, Vermont
Price: $2,599,000
Size: 7,945 square feet
Bedrooms: 7
Baths: 6
Let’s clear something up: This is not a photoshopped composite of every European castle you’ve ever seen. It’s real—and you don’t even have to board a plane to get there.
Rising out of a hilltop on Hawk’s Mountain, this mammoth construction is surrounded by more than 240 acres of nature in Cavendish, Vermont. Obviously, the views are breathtaking. So much so that the homeowners—a pair with an extensive background in interior design, engineering, and mathematics—decided to build a home from scratch after consistently visiting the site for creative inspiration. They scoured the grounds for the perfect spot, eventually agreeing on this mossy glen hugged by two swimming ponds.
If you think these photos look like a postcard from Scotland, you’re partially right—the owners designed the home in the image of the country’s loch-side castles, and in honor of the husband’s Scottish heritage. As for the mammoth glimmerstone granite wall, the owners say, they “wanted to design a house that grew from the earth.” Made with granite quarried from the parcel itself, they achieved the goal in more ways than one.
Inside, that same granite was used to build several fireplaces, which act as a warm focal piece in many of the circular rooms, which are housed in the silo wing of the home: a library, a lounge, a sitting room, and an indoor observatory, capped off with a round roof deck. The rest of the 16 rooms are sunny and cavernous, with windows aplenty, cool slate floors, and ceilings rising up to 20 feet in some places.
Though it was built in 2000, this castle of a home feels as medieval as it does contemporary. Take, for example, the long banquet table, the arched front door, and the open-air amphitheater. And, in the style of any truly old home, this one has a secret: If you can find it, a hidden staircase runs all the way from the top to the bottom of the house.
For information, contact David Donegan, Snyder Donegan Real Estate Group, snyderdonegan.com.
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
Photo by Jim Mauchly
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