Gillette Castle

While homeschooling, we would take numerous road trips to explore historic and natural sites. It was important to us that our children know the area they were growing up in and understand the stories connected to it. Connecticut was just a short drive from our home, so many of our day trips took us there to explore historic houses and landmarks. Here we are outside Gillette Castle.

Perched high about the Connecticut River in East Haddam, the castle looks as though it belongs in medieval Europe rather than the wooded hills of New England. The house was built between 1914 and 1919 by actor and playwright William Gillette, who was famous for portraying Sherlock Holmes on the stage. After achieving great success in the theater, Gillette built this unusual stone home as his retirement retreat on land he called “Seventh Sister Hill.”

The structure was built from local fieldstone and limestone, giving it the appearance of a rugged medieval fortress rising from the hillside. Yet inside, the castle reveals Gillette’s creative personality. Nearly every detail was personally designed by him. No two wooden door latches are the same, built-in furniture blends directly in architecture and cleverly placed mirrors.  

Gillette also designed the surrounding landscape as carefully as the house itself. He built miles of walking paths through the woods and created a miniature railroad that wound around the property, carrying guests across small bridges and tunnels while offering sweeping views of the Connecticut River valley below.

William Gillette lived in the castle until his death in 1937. A few years later, the state of Connecticut purchased the property to preserve it as a park. For us, places like this made history feel real for our children, less something in a book and more like a story you could step into for an afternoon.