Just came back from there, spent hours on the island and in the castle….no words can describe how beautiful it is. While a sad story, the legacy left behind its beautiful and timelessly romantic, it was all for love ❤️
Thank you for your time to film this beautiful piece of history. I toured the Castle in 1967 (which meant you had a finite amount of time to free roam the island and buildings) while coming back from Expo 67 in Montreal. The changes are fantastic in the 50+ years since I first saw it. I'm retired now and will make it back to tour the Castle again. Many thanks to you.
My grandparents lived in A - Bay so my sisters and i grew up taking rides on the river. My grandpa and uncle gave tours on the river boats telling about the river and sneaking us in to the castle back in the 60's. She has changed a lot and hoped some day they would bring her back to what she was intended to be . Thank you for showing this . most people do not know that it is there !!! Some locals call them selves River Rats. My mom ( went to a baby sitter and girl scouts i think she said at the boat house when she was little ) has pasted but she called her shelve a River Rat !!! You do not know how good you made me fell seeing the castle , and seeing how fine she is now and the river !!! Thank you .
I read the story before I came. When I walked into the castle, I saw George photo on the left and Louise photo on the right. I felt like watching the movie "Somewhere in Time". It was a sad story. Great architect. Will come back again.
Simply elegant and enchanting. Boldt castle is truely a breathtaking treasure and master piece. Love the beautiful stone work on the castle and through out. The grounds are just so gorgeous,and what a beautiful man to have this magic place built for his wife. Really so sad that she passed and his broken heart never had the castle finished. This is truely heartbreaking.
Thanks for such a thorough video of Boldt Castle. It’s amazing, I’ll watch more than once. You hit all the major highlights and more, I don’t usually comment on videos but this was exceptional.
We visited in 1985 on our honeymoon. Was sad to see it unfinished. Wow, it's so beautiful now. Thank you for sharing this video and Kudos to those restoring a beautiful historic place.
I went there when there about 2 decades ago when I was around 6 years old. I contribute a huge portion of my love for architecture and fear of heights to Boldt Castle. It's a beautiful place and the last time I visited this past year was like a flood of memories came back from when I was little and I still looked upon it with the same sense of awe and wonder
Just came back from a vacation trip there for the 6th summer now. Even still, just getting on a Uncle Sam's boat and heading over to the castle chokes me up. Then you go in that room in the castle to watch the documentary and that's when I start to cry every time. Such a beautiful place to visit and one of the greatest love stories.
I was there when it first opened and it was so sad to see all of the graffiti everywhere. What a beautiful job they have done restoring this amazing place. Another great video that has made me want to go visit this beautiful castle again, thank you.
I am sure it was brutally bad when they first took possession. All the looters and graffiti would be just sad. They have done a great job. I am glad to showcase it in hopes more people will go and check it out. We plan to go again this year and see what they have improved. Each time will be different.
Born Feb,1980. First time guided, 7 years old. Last time 29 years old, oldest of 3 girl's was 7, span of 2 years between each. An amazing place. Camp in tents for 9-19 on Wellesley Island State Park. Much love to you and all.
It is a beautiful place. Shocking someone could have the wealth to build something so stunning. Then stop production when it’s 80% done because his wife died and just let it slowly rot. Glad they saved and restored it.
This is a fantasticly informative video. Not to mention a feast for the eyes. I'm looking forward to visiting Boldt Castle this summer. Can't thank you enough! 😊🏰👍
Very good job capturing the beauty of this castle. I went twice in the mid & late 80’s. Amazing to see how much have been restored. So much was off limits that you have the ability to capture now. Love it. Now I’m ready to go back.
Amazing! You guys are awesome, nothing spectacular, just a couple visiting and happy for what you see. I loved your visit and you made me absolutely sure that I must visit this place. Thank you.
I have never heard of Boldt Castle before, I will have to put it on my list. Absolutely gorgeous. In California we have Hearst Castle, similar opulence and another great story to tell.
I find the stories behind these massive estates and how the people gained such unbelievable wealth, very interesting. Back then many were self made and started from humble beginnings. Hard to imagine in this day and age that someone can go from working as a lower level Hotel employee to this level of wealth in just his lifetime.
If you go here I suggest you drive across the Thousand Island Bridge onto Wellesley Island. There you can drive to the Boldt Castle Yacht house and can tour that. There is a shuttle boat that will take you from Wellesley over to Heart Island to tour the castle.
Sorry to hear that. Im sure it must have been heart braking. Im sure I would be devastated if I lost Janice. The only thing that didn't make sense was that his kids and other family seemed to really like going to Heart Island, so he really should have finished the last few pieces so his kids and family could have enjoyed it even if he didn't go back. Even on a financial side, he continued to be a businessman after her passing. It seems strange not to complete it when it was like 90% finished just so he could have sold the property to someone else if he never wanted to go back. To let it all just rot seemed like a travesty. I think I would have completed it as a testament to my love to my wife, in memoriam. But that is me. And I will never have his level of wealth to just throw away so to me I have trouble getting passed all the time, effort and money that wentinto the Castle only to have it go to waste. It would have been a real shame had the 1000 Island Bridge Authority not taken it over. Again, my condolences on your loss..
Speaking for myself, I made some silly decisions in the first months of Kim's passing so I understand how screwed up your mind can get. I get what you are saying about the shame of letting it all go like he did. I have no idea about the details or whether his wife was already sick when he started? As goofy as it sounds, it might have been some sort of effort on his part to keep her alive. Was the Castle ever lived in? I'll never have the kind of wealth that Mr. Boldt had so I can't imagine just walking away and letting such a beautiful place rot away like that.
I dont believe the Castle was ever lived in by the Boldt family. It eventually changed hands to a private company that I believe was trying to turn it into a resort but they didn't have the money to restore it and fix it up properly so it went back to being vacant. As far as I know the roofs of most of the buidlings collapsed and many if not all of the windows were broken out by vandals so the rain and snow all the elements came in. So there was a lot of water damage. It looks good now though and it is getting better every years as they keep restoring more rooms.
Thank you for this video. The renovation of the castle has extremely improved since I last visited it about 20 years ago. They should finish some rooms and rent them for visitors like a hotel. It could help finnce the renovation. I would definitly love to pass a weekend in the Boldt Castle island.
i guess im randomly asking but does anybody know a method to get back into an instagram account?? I was dumb lost the login password. I would appreciate any tips you can offer me!
@Sergio Jacoby thanks for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
i live about an hour away from alex bay, and loved going here as a kid. i took my daughter for the first time today and she had a blast! the finished parts of the castle, the view, the story are all so beautiful. such a great little gem in new york state. ❤️
My dad took us (5 small children) over to Boldt Castle in the late 50’s. His first instruction was “watch where you walk!” as everything was just as it was left when Mr. Boldt shut it down. Terrible destruction and debris everywhere to say nothing of the vandalism and graffiti also everywhere. I have been back several times since and it makes my heart glad to see the restoration of this magnificent structure.
I am sure it was a mess back then. Sad. So hard to believe it would get so close to completion and then just stop. He could have sold the island and house to some other rich dude at a fire sale price just to see it get completed if he didn't want it anymore. Sad waste of what could have been a beautiful estate for someone rich family. Glad the Thousand Island group is restoring it.
I went there as a teenager with my parents ands brother and they spent the night in a Motel. My brother has taken a trip recently with hiss wife and they have gone a few times. They have actually visited other castles as well. This one touches my heart. Thank you so much for sharing this and doing such a wonderful job as it was told well by the tour guide and both of you were lovely people to take this time and expain so much as you went along on your own tour. It is a lovely cruise and tour and well worth it. So many rich castles and homes and lovely Islands throughout .
Great job with the video tour! I grew up here and scratched my name in the walls in '78. One thing your guide did not mention you might enjoy knowing. Boldt serviced ALL his needs for The Castle from his farm on Wellesley Island. When you were up on the second level looking out at The Power House at the 13:13 mark you should look down. That is what is left of the rail system that brought supplies from the shoreline in to the under belly of The Castle. Surprised you didn't show the long tunnel walk in to "the catacombs" where ALL of his many storage rooms were. They you will find enormous cases of Italian marble and tile that if memory serves, fell through the ice and later was brought back up and retrieved. I am surprised they've closed The Power House. You could go in and get nice pics of the old power equipment along with many photos of it in operation.
Thanks Brad. I did see that long tunnel and the storage rooms. But to keep the video short enough to watch I couldn't show every corner of that huge estate. Very impressive.
I was there in the late 50s or. 60s with my family. I was only 7 or 8. I remember seeing the coffee cups and workers tools they left there when all the work stopped. I am so glad it is being restored!
Can't imagine having the money to build a place like this little on keeping it up!!! Fabulous that it is in good hands now to keep it from any damage, human or mother nature!!!
It is truly impressive! The Boldt Castle is just like a dream. I visited it few days ago and nothing has changed since the time you filmed it. I live in Montreal, Quebec and the Saint Lawrence river water is so murky and brown whereas two hours away in the thousands islands the water is crystal clear!
Nice video dude! I used to visit the Boldt Castle last year (2022) and I "fall in love" with the place! But I was with someone who had difficulties walking around so, I miss a lot of the place you put in your video. I made a video of it too. (In french though). I promess to my wife and I that we will go back there and visit it more carefully! And the story of George and Louise is so "romantic, so uncredible". Someone has to make a movie out of that! George was born on an island in Pruss (now in germany) and at the age of 13 years old, he decided to come in the USA to be part of the american dream he heard of... and boy did he realise it! Congratulations for your video!
If you want and have the time to practice your french, 😂 here is my video: ua-cam.com/video/gvVWnEjGB18/v-deo.htmlsi=vsMTo4gf9dSyoNrS Again, you made a great video of the Castle! Thanks!
Wow! Great video Craig. We passed on Boldt last year when we were cruising there for a week because we were pressed for time. I'm now planning for the summer of 2019 after seeing your video! This summer is the North Channel and Georgian Bay. (My season started two weeks ago in Wiarton.We are sailing from Wiarton to Cape Croker next Sat.)Keep up the great videos!
Thanks Marty. OK well in 2019 send me a message and if the timing is right, we can meet up in some anchorage for a sundowner . Boldt is well worth a look. Im sure in 2 years from this episode the Castle will have even more rooms restored. It should be cool to see the progression over the years.
@@Bowmans-Woods We explored the Castle twice 1981 and 2006 ,the restorations where breathtaking then and even more impressive now. The changes in the three different decades restores my faith, AMAZING just AMAZING...hats off to all involved. Thank you !! ......I will return !!!!
I thought I'd also share another tidbit. For several years, River Hospital and TIBA held a charity event every August called The Gala at Boldt Castle to raise money for The Hospital. Men and women would dress in their most fashionable 1900 attire. They would cater in the finest world class cuisine you could imagine. You could dance the night away to an orchestra in The Grand Ballroom. You literally felt like you were a special guest at another of George's grand events! It was $175 per person and truly worth every penny! It appears that it ended maybe in 2013. That is truly a shame! It needs to be an annual tradition much like Christmas at Vanderbilt Castle!
Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin is a dear friend of mine. She talks a lot about her family castle and did a Christmas special there. And met Anderson Cooper twice on our red carpet coverage. Very good people
When I was a teenager, in the 60's, we would go there and house was loaded with crates fill with moldings trim and graffiti . It is great to see that they have finished so many rooms.
Hey Paul. That must have been quite something to see. I hear people would be grabbing the tiles and other things by the handfuls. There is still a room in the basement filled with barrels of tiles and other finishing moldings. I am sure by the time the 1000 Island Bridge Authority took over in 1977 that anything of any value was stolen or damaged so they had a lot of expensive work to do to get it back to this state and there is still a lot more rooms to fix. They are non profit so the Government is not spending a cent to fix it up. It all comes from the entrance fees that people pay to get in. Very cool. We plan to go back this year and film it with powered gimbals and interview the curators that are working to fix it up. Every year there will be new things fixed and open to the public.
Wow, when I was there as a kid in the mid 1970s, the castle was just a husk of stone, like the top floors, with nothing opulent or impressive except some stone fireplaces and the cistern, also just stone or cement. I don't think we could go beyond the first floor or two. The grounds were mowed, but that's it. I also remember the decaying bowling alley in the playhouse. They've really created what might have been. I bet visitors forget that Boldt's family never lived in it.
Great video. Thank you for sharing! I’ve been curious and fascinated by Boldt Castle since seeing it in the horror film “Fear No Evil” when I was a teenager. I couldn’t believe such a place existed in North America. At that time I thought the scenes in the film may have been shot on location somewhere in Europe. Incredible. :)
I think they should leave some of the rooms raw with graffiti because it is an honest part of the castle's history. I grew up knowing the castle as fully abandoned and entirely filled with graffiti.It was scary and exciting to walk through it as a child and left so much to our imaginations. I remember my mom pointing out her signature when I was little from when she signed the wall in the 50's. There were even earlier signatures on the walls, that were there not soon after the castle was abandoned. A lot was looted as well which was left... When I was little we were allowed to play all over the playhouse roof with the molded hills from the windows. I have some old pics up there from then. Grateful to have grown up near there. Went daily in my teens when restoration started happening. Thanks for sharing this. I always like to find good videos to show people where I come from.
Thanks Jack. Hopefully this year we will cover so many cool places in the 1000 Islands that many people will chose to make the trip. Even if they don't have a boat to get there, getting to the area by car will still allow you to take it all in. 😀👍
Thanks. It is something to behold. Sorry I don't recall the song names. I get all my music from epidemic sound. It wouldn't be a song name you would know.
Hearst Castle in California also has an unfinished grand staircase entry! Guests were subsequently driven around the castle to the South side where they would walk up a few terraces to the front and enter the residence. The castle has recently reopened, March 2022, to tourists after its shutdown of several years.
Great video guys, thanks! Another beautiful castle to visit with its own history, also on the US side, is Singer Castle - further east of Alex Bay right across from Mallorytown Landing. Quick question, was there a cost to staying overnight at the city docks in Alexandria Bay? Thanks again.
Thanks Guy. We passed Singer Castle when we took the 12 hour trip up river from Iroquois to Treasure Island at the beginning of last season. We went by on a foggy/rainy day so we didn't get the best look at it. From what we could see, It did look impressive as well. Although, not nearly as big and impressive looking as Boldt Castle. But I still would be interested in checking it out. As for docking costs at the city dock in Alex Bay. We got there late in the evening and left very early in the morning so there was no one around to ask for money. The docks are very basic with no power or water supplied so you would think the city would provide those for free (or a tiny token amount, like $5-10) as it would help with tourism in the town. They should be free if you show up after a certain time and leave before a certain time in the morning, like we did. But in looking into it the "Day rates" for the city docks they were pretty steep (something like $50+ Cdn for our boat) considering you get no services at the dock for that price. It is unfortunate that they are doing that as you notice there were very few other boats at the docks with us in the footage. Im sure the bars, restaurants and stores on the main drag would prefer a cheaper option so more tourist boaters come visit. I know just up river at Clayton NY they have docks that are free but you have a 3hr max time during the day when it is busy. Obviously if you show up late in the evening when no one is around to care about the 3hr limit you can stay longer (or in our case overnight). We have our boat in Kingston, which is a much bigger city than Alex Bay or Clayton. The City docks there, right in the downtown core are practically free. There is an "honour system" hourly rate that is capped at $8 per day. So $5 American! Now that is how you promote tourism. Give boaters cheap or free options for transient boaters to come visit your shops and restaurants. Alex bay does not, to my knowledge, have that option and there is also no area nearby to the town to anchor for free. If anyone knows different, let me know.
I WENT to the Castle back in the early 1970's - Back when it was still abandoned - You would get to the island by paying a guy on a small motor boat $3.00 to take you over and pick you up a few hours later. A true relic of the past, before it became what it is now....A tourist trap. Oh, well.......
Its so pretty now. It would have been heart breaking to see it all smashed up when people were tearing out anything of value and doing graffiti all over it. I prefer to pay to see it being restored to its intended beauty.
Today we quote downton abbey, but oldtimers remember upstairs downstairs as the definitive tv series about the life of kitchen/backroom staff. A tough life to cater for a pampered elite.
Yes. Im sure it was tough. But at least in this Castle, they seemed to have bright cheerful places to work and live. Not in some dark basement like on Downton Abbey.
Don't overlook the fact that this huge castle is on an island in the middle of a major river. For Boldt to fill that huge dining room and ballroom and other large staterooms with guests, he had to get them there first, no easy task. This was not Fifth Avenue or even Saratoga. He needed boats! So, what do you do? You build a giant boathouse, or two.....! That's what.
He had a boat house with a fleet of boats so I think his guests just needed to get to a shore spot and he would get one of his many boat captains to go pick them up.
I wonder if anything actually happened in that house. Although the great rooms: ballroom, dining room etc. were finished, the videos show all the upstairs rooms to be unfinished. I suspect those were meant to be the guest bedrooms. Without those rooms, where would the high-class guests stay? Why would they even consider a visit? Why would Boldt invite them if he had nowhere to put them? Doesn't add up.
You said some thing about the titanic. Well Mr Bolt was waiting for the captain of the Titanic in NY because the Bolts were the owners of the Waldorf hotels That is way the Castle was so GRAND !!! At the boat house to the left was the care taker and that was were my mom went for day care !!!
My mothers moms maiden name boldt..from reedley ca..she was from amsterdam i believe.she ..my grandmother..told me of this castle about a year before she passed.
Hey Mark. I am not sure how it works on you iPad but I know on a computer you can hit the gear (Settings) symbol at the bottom right of the video and it will let you chose what resolution you want to see it at. There is one resolution above 1080p that they consider 4K, but UA-cam does not give it at as high a resolution as what I recorded it at, which is full 4K (3840x2160 ?). Im sure it still looks really good on your iPad at 1080p. Being a smaller screen, I am not sure you would even be able to see a big difference between the 1080p and the one resolution higher. But it should be there as an option.
Cruising Off Duty yes with a lot of research last night I found the answer. It’s UA-cam and Apple they do not pay nice with each other haha. Even my videos I uploaded I know 100% they are 4K. Apple TV etc will only go to highest res of 1080p. Thanks for sharing have a great day
hi Craig and Janice. Couple of off topic questions if you don't mind. I am curious about your experiences so far with the GH5. Haven't seen a video about that since you upgraded, but perhaps I missed it... Is the GH5 still your main camera and if so, how much of the time do you roughly use it as opposed to your other cameras? Are you happy with it. Also curious about the autofocus of the GH5, how do you approach that weakness? I get the impression that you are using a small aperture to help deal with that, is that indeed the case. Reason I am asking is that I am looking to get a second hand GH5 which are becoming a bit more affordable now.
I love the GH5. I use it for most of the Cinematic shots. I use the Canon G7X for low light or Vlog, talking to the camera, shots. I use a metabones speedbooster with Nikon mount lenses a lot and when they do I use manual focus. Occasionally I use Panasonic lenses with Autofocus. With distant shots the autofocus is perfectly fine. Now if you shoot away from you then quickly flip the camera to your face then back to distance shots really quickly the autofocus can be a bit slow to adjust. But that type of filming is what the G7X excels at anyway. So I just don’t do that with the GH5. Different cameras for different reasons. GH5 rocks at cinematic shots so I’m happy.
Imagine the state rented out some rooms to supplement for some of the taxpayers costs, would speed up the process, maybe make the top floor time share ;)
They are constantly doing construction on this house so not really a place people would want to pay to stay at during construction but they make a ton of money to pay for it by charging people an entrance fee to see it. Im sure it will end up being a good investment for the State.
Nice video, the very annoying part are all the Downtown Abby comments, showing that the narrator’s limited knowledge of early 1900s buildings is limited to watching that show.
It is a Great Place. We drive 2 hours each way to sail there but it is worth it for the stunning beauty. Yes Taxes: That is probably why no other owner could ever afford the Castle. The Taxes and the heating costs would be astronomical. If it wasn't for the 1000 Island Bridge Authority taking it over it would sadly just have been a pile of ruins. Glad they got involved.
Agreed. But government was much much smaller and not sooooo bloated like it is today. So they didn't need that much in taxes so tariffs on some imports was plenty to cover their costs. There was no land or income tax for a long time. Then when they finally started charging income tax it was to fund the war effort and it was suppose to be a temporary tax and it was something small like 3-5%. Nothing like the crazy levels of taxes on everything like we have today. That is what you get when the government decides how much they pay themselves and how much they spend money, promising everything to get re-elected, without thinking who is going to pay for this and they are always running a huge deficit. One day we are all going to pay for the overspending that has gone on for decades. It will soon be time to "Pay the Piper".
The Abbeys of England were charging for indulgences of the English people for hundreds of years. Henry VIII PROPERLY throughout the Roman Church. Many houses in Britain were Abbeys converted to an house…..just as ancient castles were also converted to houses. Many were modernized to the time of the modernizing. In fact Chatsworth was a fortified castle once. The Victorians made everything with modern convinces. The Anglo-Catholic Church is the CofE created to reestablish popish ways by celebrating an ancient Catholic liturgy that was once all of England. Pope Benedict sanctioned them at part of the holy Church when his visited 10 years ago. The moral of the story is: don’t charge people money to absolved their perceived sins. The Roman Church is a racket then and is now. It’s a money making organization to be sure.
Just came back from there, spent hours on the island and in the castle….no words can describe how beautiful it is. While a sad story, the legacy left behind its beautiful and timelessly romantic, it was all for love ❤️
That place is a national treasure. Incredible, with such a sad story behind it.
Thank you for your time to film this beautiful piece of history. I toured the Castle in 1967 (which meant you had a finite amount of time to free roam the island and buildings) while coming back from Expo 67 in Montreal. The changes are fantastic in the 50+ years since I first saw it. I'm retired now and will make it back to tour the Castle again. Many thanks to you.
You are very welcome. It must have looked way different (and way rougher) in 1967.
My grandparents lived in A - Bay so my sisters and i grew up taking rides on the river. My grandpa and uncle gave tours on the river boats telling about the river and sneaking us in to the castle back in the 60's. She has changed a lot and hoped some day they would bring her back to what she was intended to be . Thank you for showing this . most people do not know that it is there !!! Some locals call them selves River Rats. My mom ( went to a baby sitter and girl scouts i think she said at the boat house when she was little ) has pasted but she called her shelve a River Rat !!! You do not know how good you made me fell seeing the castle , and seeing how fine she is now and the river !!! Thank you .
Interesting. Nice area.
I read the story before I came. When I walked into the castle, I saw George photo on the left and Louise photo on the right. I felt like watching the movie "Somewhere in Time". It was a sad story. Great architect. Will come back again.
Simply elegant and enchanting. Boldt castle is truely a breathtaking treasure and master piece. Love the beautiful stone work on the castle and through out. The grounds are just so gorgeous,and what a beautiful man to have this magic place built for his wife. Really so sad that she passed and his broken heart never had the castle finished. This is truely heartbreaking.
Yes. It would have been quite the scene to see it completed as intended originally. still very nice today with the restoration
Thanks for such a thorough video of Boldt Castle. It’s amazing, I’ll watch more than once. You hit all the major highlights and more, I don’t usually comment on videos but this was exceptional.
Thanks!
I loved the tour. Thank you so much for making the video. Well done, good job.
Thanks. Glad you liked it
We visited in 1985 on our honeymoon. Was sad to see it unfinished. Wow, it's so beautiful now. Thank you for sharing this video and Kudos to those restoring a beautiful historic place.
Glad you enjoyed it. Worth a visit again if it's been a while since you have been there. Changes every year.
We were also on our honeymoon in summer of 1985!!! Loved it....so glad they kept on restoration
I went there when there about 2 decades ago when I was around 6 years old. I contribute a huge portion of my love for architecture and fear of heights to Boldt Castle. It's a beautiful place and the last time I visited this past year was like a flood of memories came back from when I was little and I still looked upon it with the same sense of awe and wonder
It is an amazing place. Sooooo big for a single family home
Just came back from a vacation trip there for the 6th summer now. Even still, just getting on a Uncle Sam's boat and heading over to the castle chokes me up. Then you go in that room in the castle to watch the documentary and that's when I start to cry every time. Such a beautiful place to visit and one of the greatest love stories.
Great place to visit. Changes every year
I am so glad that they are restoring this beauty. Too many beautiful buildings are torn down to build ugly commercial trash.
It is beautiful
I was there when it first opened and it was so sad to see all of the graffiti everywhere. What a beautiful job they have done restoring this amazing place. Another great video that has made me want to go visit this beautiful castle again, thank you.
I am sure it was brutally bad when they first took possession. All the looters and graffiti would be just sad. They have done a great job. I am glad to showcase it in hopes more people will go and check it out. We plan to go again this year and see what they have improved. Each time will be different.
Thanks for showing. We lived in Watertown ‘68-‘69, rode along the shore and saw this at a distance several times. It’s so beautiful.
Yes. Breathtaking from the outside and now due to renovations it is beautiful on the inside too.
I remember one summer, a few years ago, me and my family actually went to Boldt Castle. Got a tour inside as well. It was pretty amazing.
It is an amazing castle. Hard to imagine it was built with the intention of being for just 1 family.
Mitt familje arv så tack för turen / family crest so Thanx for this tour. 💘
Born Feb,1980. First time guided, 7 years old. Last time 29 years old, oldest of 3 girl's was 7, span of 2 years between each. An amazing place. Camp in tents for 9-19 on Wellesley Island State Park. Much love to you and all.
Sounds like you had fun
We visited the castle last week, the island is so beautiful, want to go again.
It is a beautiful place. Shocking someone could have the wealth to build something so stunning. Then stop production when it’s 80% done because his wife died and just let it slowly rot. Glad they saved and restored it.
This is a fantasticly informative video. Not to mention a feast for the eyes. I'm looking forward to visiting Boldt Castle this summer. Can't thank you enough! 😊🏰👍
Glad you enjoyed it. Well worth a visit.
Very good job capturing the beauty of this castle. I went twice in the mid & late 80’s. Amazing to see how much have been restored. So much was off limits that you have the ability to capture now. Love it. Now I’m ready to go back.
Amazing! You guys are awesome, nothing spectacular, just a couple visiting and happy for what you see. I loved your visit and you made me absolutely sure that I must visit this place. Thank you.
I have never heard of Boldt Castle before, I will have to put it on my list. Absolutely gorgeous. In California we have Hearst Castle, similar opulence and another great story to tell.
I find the stories behind these massive estates and how the people gained such unbelievable wealth, very interesting. Back then many were self made and started from humble beginnings. Hard to imagine in this day and age that someone can go from working as a lower level Hotel employee to this level of wealth in just his lifetime.
Yes, Hearst Castle is a beautiful place. Based on the Boldt video, Hearst is more opulent. Nevertheless, Boldt Castle looks beautiful.
If you go here I suggest you drive across the Thousand Island Bridge onto Wellesley Island. There you can drive to the Boldt Castle Yacht house and can tour that. There is a shuttle boat that will take you from Wellesley over to Heart Island to tour the castle.
My wife passed away 8 years ago at 52. I, unfortunately, know first hand exactly why Mr. Boldt stopped building.
Sorry to hear that. Im sure it must have been heart braking. Im sure I would be devastated if I lost Janice. The only thing that didn't make sense was that his kids and other family seemed to really like going to Heart Island, so he really should have finished the last few pieces so his kids and family could have enjoyed it even if he didn't go back. Even on a financial side, he continued to be a businessman after her passing. It seems strange not to complete it when it was like 90% finished just so he could have sold the property to someone else if he never wanted to go back. To let it all just rot seemed like a travesty. I think I would have completed it as a testament to my love to my wife, in memoriam. But that is me. And I will never have his level of wealth to just throw away so to me I have trouble getting passed all the time, effort and money that wentinto the Castle only to have it go to waste. It would have been a real shame had the 1000 Island Bridge Authority not taken it over. Again, my condolences on your loss..
Speaking for myself, I made some silly decisions in the first months of Kim's passing so I understand how screwed up your mind can get. I get what you are saying about the shame of letting it all go like he did. I have no idea about the details or whether his wife was already sick when he started? As goofy as it sounds, it might have been some sort of effort on his part to keep her alive. Was the Castle ever lived in? I'll never have the kind of wealth that Mr. Boldt had so I can't imagine just walking away and letting such a beautiful place rot away like that.
I dont believe the Castle was ever lived in by the Boldt family. It eventually changed hands to a private company that I believe was trying to turn it into a resort but they didn't have the money to restore it and fix it up properly so it went back to being vacant. As far as I know the roofs of most of the buidlings collapsed and many if not all of the windows were broken out by vandals so the rain and snow all the elements came in. So there was a lot of water damage. It looks good now though and it is getting better every years as they keep restoring more rooms.
Sorry for your loss. May she rest in peace.
Sorry to hear about your loss
amazing
Thanks for sharing your video....God bless you
Amazing beautiful wonderful blessing 👏👏👏👏👏♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️🙏🙏🙏🙏
Iam very fond of to visit 1000 Island the video made me thrilled.ıt was awesome
Glad to bring it to you.
Thank you for this video. The renovation of the castle has extremely improved since I last visited it about 20 years ago. They should finish some rooms and rent them for visitors like a hotel. It could help finnce the renovation. I would definitly love to pass a weekend in the Boldt Castle island.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks
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@Mayson Damian Instablaster :)
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i live about an hour away from alex bay, and loved going here as a kid. i took my daughter for the first time today and she had a blast! the finished parts of the castle, the view, the story are all so beautiful. such a great little gem in new york state. ❤️
Thanks Emily. Glad you liked it.
My dad took us (5 small children) over to Boldt Castle in the late 50’s. His first instruction was “watch where you walk!” as everything was just as it was left when Mr. Boldt shut it down. Terrible destruction and debris everywhere to say nothing of the vandalism and graffiti also everywhere. I have been back several times since and it makes my heart glad to see the restoration of this magnificent structure.
I am sure it was a mess back then. Sad. So hard to believe it would get so close to completion and then just stop. He could have sold the island and house to some other rich dude at a fire sale price just to see it get completed if he didn't want it anymore. Sad waste of what could have been a beautiful estate for someone rich family. Glad the Thousand Island group is restoring it.
I went there as a teenager with my parents ands brother and they spent the night in a Motel. My brother has taken a trip recently with hiss wife and they have gone a few times. They have actually visited other castles as well. This one touches my heart. Thank you so much for sharing this and doing such a wonderful job as it was told well by the tour guide and both of you were lovely people to take this time and expain so much as you went along on your own tour. It is a lovely cruise and tour and well worth it. So many rich castles and homes and lovely Islands throughout .
Great job with the video tour! I grew up here and scratched my name in the walls in '78. One thing your guide did not mention you might enjoy knowing. Boldt serviced ALL his needs for The Castle from his farm on Wellesley Island. When you were up on the second level looking out at The Power House at the 13:13 mark you should look down. That is what is left of the rail system that brought supplies from the shoreline in to the under belly of The Castle. Surprised you didn't show the long tunnel walk in to "the catacombs" where ALL of his many storage rooms were. They you will find enormous cases of Italian marble and tile that if memory serves, fell through the ice and later was brought back up and retrieved. I am surprised they've closed The Power House. You could go in and get nice pics of the old power equipment along with many photos of it in operation.
Thanks Brad. I did see that long tunnel and the storage rooms. But to keep the video short enough to watch I couldn't show every corner of that huge estate. Very impressive.
I was there in the late 50s or. 60s with my family. I was only 7 or 8. I remember seeing the coffee cups and workers tools they left there when all the work stopped. I am so glad it is being restored!
Very cool! I am sure it was something to experience back then. I am happy it is not falling apart and being restored too.
Wow your video was amazing thank you !
Glad you liked it!
Can't imagine having the money to build a place like this little on keeping it up!!! Fabulous that it is in good hands now to keep it from any damage, human or mother nature!!!
Beautiful video of a beautiful place.
Thanks Yaron/
Very well done. Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
Really fantastic video. Craig loved ho you both captured the castle. Amazing, definitely need to add that to my bucket list. Thanks
Thanks CS. If you are within a reasonable drive to the area, there are plenty of tour boats that will take you there. Well worth seeing.
Handy thing about that I only live a half hour from there. I wish they made a movie about this.
A movie would be cool.
It is truly impressive! The Boldt Castle is just like a dream. I visited it few days ago and nothing has changed since the time you filmed it. I live in Montreal, Quebec and the Saint Lawrence river water is so murky and brown whereas two hours away in the thousands islands the water is crystal clear!
It is beautiful and worth going again if its been a while. It is constantly being improved and restored.
I was there 1 month ago !Stunning place ! Great video ,thank you !
We agree. Stunning.
Great way to close out last season! Loved the video, thanks for sharing it.
Thanks Rick. I think we really did save the best for last. It was my first time visiting Boldt, so I was blown away by it.
Can't wait to see it in a few weeks!
Very good video! Thx for the infos!👍
Thanks. Glad you like it
Nice video dude! I used to visit the Boldt Castle last year (2022) and I "fall in love" with the place! But I was with someone who had difficulties walking around so, I miss a lot of the place you put in your video. I made a video of it too. (In french though). I promess to my wife and I that we will go back there and visit it more carefully! And the story of George and Louise is so "romantic, so uncredible". Someone has to make a movie out of that! George was born on an island in Pruss (now in germany) and at the age of 13 years old, he decided to come in the USA to be part of the american dream he heard of... and boy did he realise it! Congratulations for your video!
Thanks. It is beautiful
If you want and have the time to practice your french, 😂 here is my video:
ua-cam.com/video/gvVWnEjGB18/v-deo.htmlsi=vsMTo4gf9dSyoNrS
Again, you made a great video of the Castle! Thanks!
I went there for my birthday last year and I might go back this year too!
Wow! Great video Craig.
We passed on Boldt last year when we were cruising there for a week because we were pressed for time.
I'm now planning for the summer of 2019 after seeing your video!
This summer is the North Channel and Georgian Bay. (My season started two weeks ago in Wiarton.We are sailing from Wiarton to Cape Croker next Sat.)Keep up the great videos!
Thanks Marty. OK well in 2019 send me a message and if the timing is right, we can meet up in some anchorage for a sundowner . Boldt is well worth a look. Im sure in 2 years from this episode the Castle will have even more rooms restored. It should be cool to see the progression over the years.
Thanks! I'll let you know when the time gets closer.
Marty
@@Bowmans-Woods We explored the Castle twice 1981 and 2006 ,the restorations where breathtaking then and even more impressive now. The changes in the three different decades restores my faith, AMAZING just AMAZING...hats off to all involved. Thank you !! ......I will return !!!!
Absolutely loved this video!! Thank you so much for sharing your trips with us. Wow what money can buy is nuts!!🤔
Thanks. I know! I can't imagine anyone these days can afford to blow the kind of money that castle would have cost to build, just for a cottage. Crazy
I thought I'd also share another tidbit. For several years, River Hospital and TIBA held a charity event every August called The Gala at Boldt Castle to raise money for The Hospital. Men and women would dress in their most fashionable 1900 attire. They would cater in the finest world class cuisine you could imagine. You could dance the night away to an orchestra in The Grand Ballroom. You literally felt like you were a special guest at another of George's grand events! It was $175 per person and truly worth every penny! It appears that it ended maybe in 2013. That is truly a shame! It needs to be an annual tradition much like Christmas at Vanderbilt Castle!
Very cool. That would be quite the event. It is a shame that they are not still doing that.
Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin is a dear friend of mine. She talks a lot about her family castle and did a Christmas special there. And met Anderson Cooper twice on our red carpet coverage. Very good people
Always a great time
It is nice
Beautiful
Thank you
When I was a teenager, in the 60's, we would go there and house was loaded with crates fill with moldings trim and graffiti . It is great to see that they have finished so many rooms.
Hey Paul. That must have been quite something to see. I hear people would be grabbing the tiles and other things by the handfuls. There is still a room in the basement filled with barrels of tiles and other finishing moldings. I am sure by the time the 1000 Island Bridge Authority took over in 1977 that anything of any value was stolen or damaged so they had a lot of expensive work to do to get it back to this state and there is still a lot more rooms to fix. They are non profit so the Government is not spending a cent to fix it up. It all comes from the entrance fees that people pay to get in. Very cool. We plan to go back this year and film it with powered gimbals and interview the curators that are working to fix it up. Every year there will be new things fixed and open to the public.
you should see it now! 😊
Wow, when I was there as a kid in the mid 1970s, the castle was just a husk of stone, like the top floors, with nothing opulent or impressive except some stone fireplaces and the cistern, also just stone or cement. I don't think we could go beyond the first floor or two. The grounds were mowed, but that's it. I also remember the decaying bowling alley in the playhouse. They've really created what might have been. I bet visitors forget that Boldt's family never lived in it.
They have done amazing work to get this castle up to the standard that it is. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Great video. Thank you for sharing! I’ve been curious and fascinated by Boldt Castle since seeing it in the horror film “Fear No Evil” when I was a teenager. I couldn’t believe such a place existed in North America. At that time I thought the scenes in the film may have been shot on location somewhere in Europe. Incredible. :)
It does feel very “old world”. It is truly a opulent castle. Hard to believe anyone could afford to build this.
I think they should leave some of the rooms raw with graffiti because it is an honest part of the castle's history. I grew up knowing the castle as fully abandoned and entirely filled with graffiti.It was scary and exciting to walk through it as a child and left so much to our imaginations. I remember my mom pointing out her signature when I was little from when she signed the wall in the 50's. There were even earlier signatures on the walls, that were there not soon after the castle was abandoned. A lot was looted as well which was left... When I was little we were allowed to play all over the playhouse roof with the molded hills from the windows. I have some old pics up there from then. Grateful to have grown up near there. Went daily in my teens when restoration started happening. Thanks for sharing this. I always like to find good videos to show people where I come from.
Quite nice, I live next to Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC.
Ah. That is the place Nate said in the video? We have never been there. I am sure it must be nice. He said it was the most visited estate.
Nice job guys. I have to make it there one day. Thanks.
Thanks Jack. Hopefully this year we will cover so many cool places in the 1000 Islands that many people will chose to make the trip. Even if they don't have a boat to get there, getting to the area by car will still allow you to take it all in. 😀👍
Amazing place....👍👍👍
It really is!
Great video of Boltd Castle. I've been there a few times. Could you please tell me the name of the song which starts at 1:25 ?
Thanks. It is something to behold. Sorry I don't recall the song names. I get all my music from epidemic sound. It wouldn't be a song name you would know.
@@Bowmans-Woods Okay thankyou.
Hearst Castle in California also has an unfinished grand staircase entry! Guests were subsequently driven around the castle to the South side where they would walk up a few terraces to the front and enter the residence. The castle has recently reopened, March 2022, to tourists after its shutdown of several years.
Absolutely gorgeous! I want to visit and drag my husband along. He has no idea that this place exists. Maybe in 2 for our anniversary! 😉
It is well worth the visit. They are updating it all the time so in 2 years even more will be new.
2:30 right behind that to the left of the building is where my boat is
:-)
Great video guys, thanks! Another beautiful castle to visit with its own history, also on the US side, is Singer Castle - further east of Alex Bay right across from Mallorytown Landing. Quick question, was there a cost to staying overnight at the city docks in Alexandria Bay? Thanks again.
Thanks Guy. We passed Singer Castle when we took the 12 hour trip up river from Iroquois to Treasure Island at the beginning of last season. We went by on a foggy/rainy day so we didn't get the best look at it. From what we could see, It did look impressive as well. Although, not nearly as big and impressive looking as Boldt Castle. But I still would be interested in checking it out.
As for docking costs at the city dock in Alex Bay. We got there late in the evening and left very early in the morning so there was no one around to ask for money. The docks are very basic with no power or water supplied so you would think the city would provide those for free (or a tiny token amount, like $5-10) as it would help with tourism in the town. They should be free if you show up after a certain time and leave before a certain time in the morning, like we did. But in looking into it the "Day rates" for the city docks they were pretty steep (something like $50+ Cdn for our boat) considering you get no services at the dock for that price. It is unfortunate that they are doing that as you notice there were very few other boats at the docks with us in the footage.
Im sure the bars, restaurants and stores on the main drag would prefer a cheaper option so more tourist boaters come visit. I know just up river at Clayton NY they have docks that are free but you have a 3hr max time during the day when it is busy. Obviously if you show up late in the evening when no one is around to care about the 3hr limit you can stay longer (or in our case overnight). We have our boat in Kingston, which is a much bigger city than Alex Bay or Clayton. The City docks there, right in the downtown core are practically free. There is an "honour system" hourly rate that is capped at $8 per day. So $5 American! Now that is how you promote tourism. Give boaters cheap or free options for transient boaters to come visit your shops and restaurants. Alex bay does not, to my knowledge, have that option and there is also no area nearby to the town to anchor for free. If anyone knows different, let me know.
Thanks again Craig, hoping to get up there soon but weekend weather is not cooperating with us lately! Cheers!
Ive not been there since 2009. They've done a lot in that time.
My family legacy..... My mothers side of the family are descended from the originalBoldtt clan... I grew up hearing this story.
Very cool. I’m sure it was incredible to have that level of wealth.
Would be nice to acknowledge the music
That thing still isn’t finished? I remember going on school trips and family trips to that castle almost 15 years ago. Crazy
It is constantly being improved. So if you visited years ago, it would be worth seeing again.
I WENT to the Castle back in the early 1970's - Back when it was still abandoned - You would get to the island by paying a guy on a small motor boat $3.00 to take you over and pick you up a few hours later. A true relic of the past, before it became what it is now....A tourist trap. Oh, well.......
Its so pretty now. It would have been heart breaking to see it all smashed up when people were tearing out anything of value and doing graffiti all over it. I prefer to pay to see it being restored to its intended beauty.
Lovely place
Those stairs just needed a clock.
It really is!
Today we quote downton abbey, but oldtimers remember upstairs downstairs as the definitive tv series about the life of kitchen/backroom staff. A tough life to cater for a pampered elite.
Yes. Im sure it was tough. But at least in this Castle, they seemed to have bright cheerful places to work and live. Not in some dark basement like on Downton Abbey.
My sister stayed there over summer mid 70s it wasn't derelict it was a protestant summer camp ,we visited with grand parents
Don't overlook the fact that this huge castle is on an island in the middle of a major river. For Boldt to fill that huge dining room and ballroom and other large staterooms with guests, he had to get them there first, no easy task. This was not Fifth Avenue or even Saratoga. He needed boats! So, what do you do? You build a giant boathouse, or two.....! That's what.
He had a boat house with a fleet of boats so I think his guests just needed to get to a shore spot and he would get one of his many boat captains to go pick them up.
I wonder if anything actually happened in that house. Although the great rooms: ballroom, dining room etc. were finished, the videos show all the upstairs rooms to be unfinished. I suspect those were meant to be the guest bedrooms. Without those rooms, where would the high-class guests stay? Why would they even consider a visit? Why would Boldt invite them if he had nowhere to put them? Doesn't add up.
You have to see singer castle as well
Yes. Maybe one day next summer.
You said some thing about the titanic. Well Mr Bolt was waiting for the captain of the Titanic in NY because the Bolts were the owners of the Waldorf hotels That is way the Castle was so GRAND !!! At the boat house to the left was the care taker and that was were my mom went for day care !!!
Very cool info
You're a lucky man Craig, you've a very beautiful wife
Its crazy that just next to that, is hub island which is the worlds smallest habited island😮😅
Super
Indeed
My mothers moms maiden name boldt..from reedley ca..she was from amsterdam i believe.she ..my grandmother..told me of this castle about a year before she passed.
Interesting. It would have been something to live in such a massive place.
@@Bowmans-Woods for sure
Wow!
Yes. It really was a WOW experience.
The hell with people so wealthy they can half build a goddamn castle and just leave it to rot. No one needs to live like this.
It was a time where a few people had unbelievable wealth. The industrial age.
What state is this located in???
Michigan USA/Singapore S.E.Asia new york state
This island has many sadder stories than this house.
Who is singing in the beginning of the video?
Sorry, old video. I don't recall
Why does it say in 4k but I can only chose 1080p max? Is it my iPad Pro? UA-cam or me?.??
Hey Mark. I am not sure how it works on you iPad but I know on a computer you can hit the gear (Settings) symbol at the bottom right of the video and it will let you chose what resolution you want to see it at. There is one resolution above 1080p that they consider 4K, but UA-cam does not give it at as high a resolution as what I recorded it at, which is full 4K (3840x2160 ?). Im sure it still looks really good on your iPad at 1080p. Being a smaller screen, I am not sure you would even be able to see a big difference between the 1080p and the one resolution higher. But it should be there as an option.
Cruising Off Duty yes with a lot of research last night I found the answer. It’s UA-cam and Apple they do not pay nice with each other haha. Even my videos I uploaded I know 100% they are 4K. Apple TV etc will only go to highest res of 1080p. Thanks for sharing have a great day
1:55 song? Anyone know ???????
I hope you found out, but it’s April Sky by Ten Towers
hi Craig and Janice. Couple of off topic questions if you don't mind. I am curious about your experiences so far with the GH5. Haven't seen a video about that since you upgraded, but perhaps I missed it... Is the GH5 still your main camera and if so, how much of the time do you roughly use it as opposed to your other cameras? Are you happy with it. Also curious about the autofocus of the GH5, how do you approach that weakness? I get the impression that you are using a small aperture to help deal with that, is that indeed the case. Reason I am asking is that I am looking to get a second hand GH5 which are becoming a bit more affordable now.
I love the GH5. I use it for most of the Cinematic shots. I use the Canon G7X for low light or Vlog, talking to the camera, shots. I use a metabones speedbooster with Nikon mount lenses a lot and when they do I use manual focus. Occasionally I use Panasonic lenses with Autofocus. With distant shots the autofocus is perfectly fine. Now if you shoot away from you then quickly flip the camera to your face then back to distance shots really quickly the autofocus can be a bit slow to adjust. But that type of filming is what the G7X excels at anyway. So I just don’t do that with the GH5. Different cameras for different reasons. GH5 rocks at cinematic shots so I’m happy.
Thanks for your insights Craig!
❤
when i went my family went last year my sister felt something touch her leg during the video but no one was there.
Spooky.
Imagine the state rented out some rooms to supplement for some of the taxpayers costs, would speed up the process, maybe make the top floor time share ;)
They are constantly doing construction on this house so not really a place people would want to pay to stay at during construction but they make a ton of money to pay for it by charging people an entrance fee to see it. Im sure it will end up being a good investment for the State.
Nice video, the very annoying part are all the Downtown Abby comments, showing that the narrator’s limited knowledge of early 1900s buildings is limited to watching that show.
Alex Bay is so beautiful. Incredible shots u got!!!! Check out my flight over the castle if you would like.
Great place to cruise! Wow! All built when people didn't pay taxes!
It is a Great Place. We drive 2 hours each way to sail there but it is worth it for the stunning beauty. Yes Taxes: That is probably why no other owner could ever afford the Castle. The Taxes and the heating costs would be astronomical. If it wasn't for the 1000 Island Bridge Authority taking it over it would sadly just have been a pile of ruins. Glad they got involved.
The government was funded from tariffs back then. Just another form of taxation.
Agreed. But government was much much smaller and not sooooo bloated like it is today. So they didn't need that much in taxes so tariffs on some imports was plenty to cover their costs. There was no land or income tax for a long time. Then when they finally started charging income tax it was to fund the war effort and it was suppose to be a temporary tax and it was something small like 3-5%. Nothing like the crazy levels of taxes on everything like we have today. That is what you get when the government decides how much they pay themselves and how much they spend money, promising everything to get re-elected, without thinking who is going to pay for this and they are always running a huge deficit. One day we are all going to pay for the overspending that has gone on for decades. It will soon be time to "Pay the Piper".
They stopped construction when his wife died :/
Yep. Did I not mention that in the video? It's been a while since I filmed this. I forget.
That place is FUCKING BEAUTIFUL
Ha you’re complaining about 2017, wait till 2020
The large houses in England were stolen from abbey monasteries and hence not set up for the most comfortable accommodations.
The Abbeys of England were charging for indulgences of the English people for hundreds of years. Henry VIII PROPERLY throughout the Roman Church. Many houses in Britain were Abbeys converted to an house…..just as ancient castles were also converted to houses. Many were modernized to the time of the modernizing. In fact Chatsworth was a fortified castle once. The Victorians made everything with modern convinces. The Anglo-Catholic Church is the CofE created to reestablish popish ways by celebrating an ancient Catholic liturgy that was once all of England. Pope Benedict sanctioned them at part of the holy Church when his visited 10 years ago.
The moral of the story is: don’t charge people money to absolved their perceived sins. The Roman Church is a racket then and is now. It’s a money making organization to be sure.
Hertz castle isn't that nice!!!
I haven't been there. Sewer is not too far away from Boldt Castle but I am sure it is not as grand as this.
Why isn’t anyone dressed properly? Why are men wearing shorts?
On POWATAN LAND........STILL.
When the COLONIZERS Are ALL GONE.
🤡🤡
🤡