Castles of "United States" CARROLLCLIFFE vs CASTELLO DI AMOROSA

Carrollcliffe, now the Castle Hotel & Spa, and also having been known as Axe Castle, is a building in Tarrytown, New York which was constructed to resemble a European castle, with crenellated towers. It is now a hotel, a member of the Historic Hotels of America. It is built of stone in 1897 and 1910, and has towers and turrets. It was originally named Carrollcliffe and was built for "General" Howard Carroll, a journalist, playwright and businessman, with intention that it should be reflect Norman castles in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It was built in two stages between 1897 and 1910 as the residence of General Howard Carroll, a newspaperman and playwright, to a design by the architect Henry Franklin Kilburn. Beginning in 1941, it served for decades as the headquarters of the financial firm Axe-Houghton Management. It was converted to a hotel during 1994-96. New owners Hanspeter and Steffi Walder of Tarrtown bought the property along with a group of investors in 1992. Their vision was to re-create Carrollcliff's glory days. The couple's vision was to convert the Castle into a luxury inn while rediscovering, and ultimately preserving the Castle's original beauty and charm. Their goal, Hanspeter says, is the operation of a hotel and restaurant that can be a haven for the stressed executive or professional desiring to relax in a setting that is warm, inviting, and majestic. In 2003, Elite Hotels, a limited liability company formed by C. Dean Metropoulos, bought the property, then called The Castle at Tarrytown for $10.9 million, according to a newspaper article at the time, which described it as "a 31-room inn on 10.1 acres". It is now a hotel and spa. Overlooking the Hudson River valley, it is located on the highest point of Westchester County, about 20 miles (32 km) north of the George Washington Bridge.

See statistics

Castello di Amorosa is a castle and a winery located near Calistoga, California. First opening its doors to the public in April 2007, the castle is the project of 4th generation vintner, Dario Sattui, who also owns and operates the V. Sattui Winery named after his great-grandfather, Vittorio Sattui, who originally established a winery in San Francisco in 1885 after emigrating from Italy to California. The winery property was once part of an estate owned by Edward Turner Bale. In 1993, Sattui purchased 171 acres (69 ha) for $3.1 million, then spent another $40 million to construct the castle, outbuildings, and the winery inside the castle; construction work began in 1995. Due to the Glass Fire that began on September 27, 2020, the farmhouse suffered major damage, the entire 2020 vintage of the wine Fantasia was lost, but the castle was left unharmed. The castle interiors, which include 107 rooms on 8 levels above and below ground, were approximately 121,000 square feet (11,200 m2) when opened in 2007; it has since been expanded to 141,000 square feet. Key details and building techniques are architecturally faithful to the 12th and 13th century time period. Among many other features, it includes a moat; a drawbridge, defensive towers, an interior courtyard, a torture chamber, a chapel/church, a knights' chamber, and a 72 by 30 feet (9.1 m) great hall with a 22-foot (6.7 m)-high coffered ceiling. The torture chamber has an iron maiden said to be from the late Renaissance, which Sattui states he bought for $13,000 in Pienza, Italy; a replica rack; and other torture devices. The great hall features frescoes painted by two Italian artists, who took about a year and a half to complete, and showcases a 500-year-old fireplace.

See statistics