History of Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle was constructed by George C. Boldt, who was a Prussian immigrant who made his fortune in the hotel industry, managing luxurious hotels like the New York Waldorf-Astoria. (He invented many modern hotel concepts, and his chef originated the Thousand Islands salad dressing.) He was building the castle for his wife, but when she died suddenly, he halted all work on the castle and never returned to the island. The 120-room castle was derelict from 1904 to 1977, when it was acquired by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority and opened to tourists.

At the time, the Thousand Islands was a popular summer retreat for the wealthy of New York and Philadelphia. In 1895, Louise Boldt purchased Hart Island in the Thousand Islands. The Boldt's made a number of changes to the island. They reshaped the island into a heart shape, and renamed it Heart Island. Their summer home on the island was one of the largest and most beautiful in the area.



But having the largest and most beautiful home in the region wasn't good enough, and their home was demolished in 1900 to make way for something more grandiose. Their new summer home was to be an immense four story structure with 127 rooms, including 30 bathrooms. Construction proceeded using steel and concrete, with an exterior of light granite quarried 16km away on Oak Island. The overall appearance was that of a French chateau.




The construction of Boldt Castle ceased abruptly in early 1904 after the death of Boldt's wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt. For 73 years, the castle and other stone structures were left exposed to the harsh winter weather and occasional vandals. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired Heart Island and the nearby yacht house in 1977, for one dollar, under the agreement that all revenues obtained from the castle operation would be applied towards restoration, so that the island would be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.

In the two decades after acquiring the property, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority spent some fifteen million dollars for restoration and improvements here, and work continues annually. The initial goal of the restoration of Heart Island was not to finish what hadn't been completed, but to restore the island to the state it was in when construction was halted. Improvements have gone beyond that stage, however; A stained glass dome, marble floor, and grand staircase woodword, for instance, now seen in the main hall, were not original but are modern innovations.



Today, Boldt Castle is accessible by ferry from Alexandria Bay; Gananoque, Ontario; Rockport, Ontario; and Ivy Lea, Ontario; and most of the grounds and buildings can be explored by the public for a fee. The boat-owning public may also dock on Heart Island for free and there is a US Customs and Immigration office on Heart Island. International visitors coming from Canada should have appropriate identification.

Most of the rooms on the first floor of Boldt Castle are now (2006) furnished, but mostly with modern pieces. The basement is mostly poorly lit tunnels that accumulate to a fountain/swimming pool built deep in the ground, which is not accessible to guests.

Most of the rooms from the second floor to the top floor have been left unfurnished, but there are exhibits in some of these rooms and hallways showing pictures and artifacts of the Thousand Islands region during the era in which the Boldts lived. These rooms are also left unfurnished to give the visitor an opportunity to imagine what the castle may have looked like if it had been completed.

Since the restoration, an archway that was originally intended by George Boldt to be the entranceway for boats, has been fully restored, but has a bridge connecting the two sides. Recently opened after renovations is a balcony which overlooks the southern half of the island and Alexandria Bay, NY. There are numerous fountains located around the castle, including one that was originally to be used as a swimming pool in the basement, most of which have statues of lions spitting a continuous stream of water from their mouths.


Two other buildings on the island are the Power House and the Children's Tower; both are open to the public. The Power House was built to hold a generator to supply the island with power, and now is more of a museum of how electric power was obtained in the early 1900s, as well as a few stories of getting tools and equipment to Heart Island during the castle's construction.

The Child's Tower was built as a playhouse for the children of Boldt. It is purposely constructed with slanting and uneven walls, ceilings, and roofs. The public who enter the Children's Tower are able to climb out a doorway and walk on some of the roofs, which are more of balconies and outside portions of the tower, but are slightly slanted and miscolored to seem like the roof.



The island where Boldt Castle stands was named Heart Island by Mr. Boldt, perhaps because of the romantic significance of the name, and in recognition of the physical shape of the island after his modifications. Before then, however, the island was named Hart Island, after the previous owners. The original home which stood on the castle site when George Boldt purchased the island was slid across the ice to Wellesley Island during the winter of 1899, being made a part of the exclusive Thousand Island Club frequented by the very wealthy of the period. That home is now being renovated as a Bed & Breakfast, and has been renamed Hart House in honor of the original owners.