Dr. Seymour O’Life’s MYSTERIOUS AMERICA

The Castleof Berkeley Springs

A Stunning Monument to Love… or was it just third time’s a charm?

Berkeley Springs is a little burg that sits along the northern border of West Virginia, just south of the Potomac River. We have had many rallies here (another one coming up in August) and have always found the town fun and inviting.

We certainly were not the rst to do so, as the mineral baths found here have enticed visitors and travelers for centuries.

Yes, George Washington did bathe here too.

With its relative closeness to our nation’s capital and the stunning wilderness to the south and west, Berkeley Springs has long been an attractive destination, and it is also home to the annual International Water Tasting competition.

Yes… there is such a thing.

Heading into the wilds of West “By God” Virginia, up Route 9, just as you’re leaving the town it is hard to miss the castle to the right.

Castle? Yes… castle. With the other homes now running along the road, it looks slightly out of place – but in its day it was THE place – and if stone walls could talk.

The castle has its beginning at the end of the Civil War. Samuel Taylor Suit was many things: a successful whiskey distiller, an honorary Kentucky colonel, and a wealthy, well-connected landowner, businessman, and politician. He was also unlucky in love.

Samuel Suit’s rst wife died in childbirth, and his second wife divorced him after 20 years of marriage which proved to be socially advantageous but otherwise deeply contentious. When he fell in love a third time, it was with Rosa Pelham, daughter of a Congressman from Alabama and 29 years his junior.

He was 48 - she was 17.

I’m doing the math here… three decades separated them. Why do I feel I’d be shot for going for this gal today?

Well, Sammy gave it a shot at a proposal and she said no, but when he promised her a castle? Well, who’d say no to that?

The couple married, and Samuel did indeed build his new bride a castle.

The site of the castle would be a ridge overlooking the popular spa town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

The town had long been a popular resort destination, particularly among the elite from not-too-distant Washington, D.C. looking to escape the miserable summer weather. Warm mineral springs and cool, clear mountain air attracted the likes of George Washington, James Madison, Martin Van Buren, and Henry Clay. Being members of the Washington high society that summered in the little destination town, Berkeley Springs was in fact where Rosa and Samuel rst met.

See what a bikini will do? Sorry, wrong century.

They were married in 1883, and the rst stone of their castle was laid in 1885. It would be but one of the several dozen “cottages” built by the wealthy summer patrons of Berkeley Springs, but theirs would stand out thanks to its extravagant appearance inspired by Norman castle architecture. Suit hired famed architect A.B. Mullett to design his castle. Mullett was known for designing the San Francisco Mint, U.S. State Department Building, the U.S. Treasury Building, and the New York Post Of ce. Have you ever seen the New York Post Of ce? Serious stuff kids.

The fteen-room interior featured a ballroom 50 feet wide and 40 ft long. Mullet is alleged to have drawn a rough sketch of the plan on a tablecloth at the Berkeley Springs Hotel in front of Suit – who hired him on the spot.

Construction began in 1885 with 100 German masons. Each stone was hand cut from the silica sandstone mined in the area. It took them until 1891 to complete the castle.

Despite the setting, however, there would be no storybook ending; Samuel died in 1888 before the project was completed.

Suit’s will required that the castle be nished for Rosa to claim his inheritance so Rosa nished building the house in 1891. Once completed, the now 30-something rich widow took up residence year-round in her castle, where she entertained regularly and lavishly. Very lavishly.

She would sometimes rent railroad cars to bring her guests from D.C. to her sumptuously appointed parties, featuring opulent spreads and bands that kept revelers dancing through the night.

Alas, the ame that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and by the turn of the century, Rosa Pelham Suit found that the money had run out. Sigh… well, it was fun while it lasted.

She started renting out the castle to generate some income, and in 1902 sold considerable land holdings (known as “Suitland”) amassed by her late husband in Maryland, but it was to no avail. The castle was sold at public auction in 1913, and Rosa retired to a small house (described in some sources as a “shack”) and raised chickens, later moving to Idaho with her son Samuel.

The Berkeley Springs Castle was home to a ‘boys summer camp’ from 1938 to 1954 and was operated as a museum open to the public from 1954 to 1999. Then as a private residence that has changed hands a few times over the years.

It was recently sold again, and most of the town had never heard of VDARE founder Peter Brimelow and his wife, Lydia, until after the couple had bought it for $1.4 million. Some were not all that happy about the purchase. Why?

Let’s just say the bon res get lit when their names are spoken of on MSNBC or CNN. But they own the castle now and, so far, they have been quiet, rich, and slightly newsworthy neighbors.

Maybe none of us will get invited to any lavish parties or VDARE events, but we can take a good look at this stunning castle when we ride by on the backroads that are Mysterious America. ,