by Wilson Castle is truly a castle in Vermont –– it has a turret and a parapet and a coat of arms –– but the structure today is a shell of its former self.
Traces of its former magnificence are there, but, as you can imagine, castles are very expensive to upkeep (especially when they’re more than 100 years old and subject to Vermont winters). Evidence of much-needed repairs was obvious at every turn.
The castle, located in Proctor, Vt., was constructed starting in 1885 for Doctor & Lady Johnson.
Dr. Johnson, a Vermont native, went to England to study medicine, and there he fell in love with the future Mrs. Johnson, a wealthy lady of the aristocracy.
They spent a whopping $1.3 million (in 1885 dollars!) building their home over several years. But tragedy soon followed. The death of their infant son meant that Lady Johnson didn’t want to live there any longer, and the couple moved out shortly thereafter. Interestingly, little is known about the Johnsons after they departed Proctor.
Over the next 50 years the castle was bought and sold sixteen (!) times complete with all of its furnishings, but no one really made it a home until radio engineer Colonel Herbert Lee Wilson purchased the home in 1939.
Wilson was looking for a location to build another radio station and –– what else –– a summer home for his family. The home has remained in the family ever since, passing on to his daughter Blossom, then to her daughter Denise, the current owner. Some of the furniture in the home dates back to the original owners.
Paranormal investigators routinely visit the home seeking (and occasionally finding) the presences of several members of the Johnson and Wilson families.
The house has been featured on television programs and is popular with paranormal investigation groups who book the house nearly every weekend in order to conduct their research.
The good news is that the interest in the house by paranormalists is bringing in much-needed funds that are being used to restore and repair the castle.
Our guide, who grew up coming and going freely at the castle as a friend of the current owner, told us stories and showed us pictures of some of the otherworldly activity that has been reported (in most of which I couldn’t see the figure even after it was pointed out to me). We took lots of pictures of mirrors, but alas got nothing creepier than our own reflections. I have a nice video of a curtain not moving at all, in spite of stories of it floating high into the air as ghosts passed through; our guide appealed directly to the ghosts to give us some action, but it was not to be. There are lots of paranormal videos on the castle’s website, which you can peruse here.
The 32-room, 3-floor castle is set on 115 acres and has a commanding view of the Green Mountains. Almost all of the materials were imported (explaining much of the high cost and long timeline), with just some slate and marble sourced locally.
There are 84 beautiful stained glass windows throughout the 13,131 square foot house, and the tiles on the 13 fireplaces were divine. There were many antiques scattered throughout the house, as the Colonel traveled much for his work and was quite the collector. One of the chairs in the house was given to Wilson by the Pope in lieu of cash payment for work completed for the Vatican’s radio/communications needs.
The castle has two turrets, a parapet, and a balcony. A orangery and aviary are also on the grounds, but are not part of the tour. Because the home is privately-owned, there were no barriers anywhere blocking access to the furniture and fixtures in the rooms, and we were free to explore before and after our guided tour.
Loved your post of Wilson Castle! What a beautiful place. Can’t imagine living in such a place, never mind it being a summer home! Sure hope it wasn’t damaged by all the recent flooding in Vermont. ♥️