The Castle
Built by General William Jackson Palmer for a residence for his family in 1871.
They traveled to Europe to help furnish the castle,
and the finest quality materials were used to build.
This might be the first "Home School"
General Palmer was concerned that his 5 year old daughter might be kidnapped, so he build her a school on property.
The Palmer's later opened the first Colorado Springs schools.
There were many guests and the tunnels were build to transport the large luggage and trunks for the guests from the carriage house to their rooms, while the guests were getting a tour of the 800 acre estate.
The archways are common throughout the castle.
This is the front entrance.
Most of the fireplaces in the castle came from Europe,
but the knight in armor came from Spain.
General Palmer was safety conscious, so the benches at the sides and front of the fireplace were "Skirt Protectors" ( think of the ladies skirts in those days)
Speaking of safety - he had his own reservoirs of water in the mountains and he installed fire hoses near all the fireplaces because the earlier version of the house had burnt down.
This picture shows how this particular fireplace was constructed first - as a free standing structure, then the building was added.
The metal at the top of the opening is from the Civil War.
The Great Hall holds 250 people for the major important events and parties.
Back to the hummingbirds--
It is fun to see the babies growing.
I guess they will be gone pretty soon. The nest is on the chain of a swing so easy for us to get pictures.
