Thornewood Castle
Location: Lakewood, Pierce, Washington, United States
Surname/tag: Rose Red
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| Horse and Buggy, 1910. |
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| Thornewood Castle. |
Chester Thorne was born at New York City, to Edwin Thorne and Charlotte Pearsall. After graduating from Yale, he worked on the Missouri Pacific Railway, then heading to Tacoma in 1890, he was president of The National Bank of Commerce, and a co-founder of the Port of Tacoma. Chester married Anna Hoxie, daughter of Melville Hoxie and Nannie Davis, in 1886, and their daughter Annie was born in 1895.
In 1909, Chester engaged the services of Kirtland Kelsey Cutter to fulfil his dream of building a castle. His fascination with the grandeur of old English estates, fueled his dream. With the help of Anna, Chester made his dream come true. He collected materials from the British Isles, including 500 year old bricks from a castle, and transported them, in three ships around Cape Horn, to Washington State. On the shores of American Lake, at Lakewood, Washington State, he constructed a 27,000 sq ft, three story, Tudor Gothic, style castle, with 54 rooms, 22 bedrooms, 22 bathrooms, and includes, Victorian style great hall, European style ballroom with crystal chandelier, all under one tile roof, with ten inch thick concrete floors, buillt on a base of three foot thick concrete, with three inch thick, Oak front door, Oak paneling, and Oak dowelled staircase, with exterior facing brick from Wales, now on four acres of grounds, formerly 100 acres, and taking three years to complete. The castle also includes English Gardens designed by the Olmsted Brothers, John and Frederick, 37 acres of Formal English Garden, and 16th Century stained glass windows. The grounds include a Secret sunken garden, for Anna Thorne, and the "Kingsale Hounds", a pair of Great Dane statues set on two tall plinths, the favourite hunting dog of John de Courcy, 26th Lord Kinsale, and the only set of these statues in the United States. The house had 28 full time gardeners and an internal staff of 40.
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