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Castle in the Woods
Located in Elizabethtown, NY, Stoneleigh Bed and Breakfast is fit for a prince.
The door opens slowly into what looks like a dimly lit cathedral. Sunlight streaks through the stained glass windows, illuminating the grand railing in reds and blues. At the entrance there are two tall chairs, fit for a prince. Nestled in the backwoods of Elizabethtown, NY, Stoneleigh Bed and Breakfast transports the guest into a different time and place.
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Rosemary Remington is the owner and operator of Stoneleigh Bed and Breakfast, and the queen of this extraordinary castle. “The building was constructed in the late 1800’s for Francis Smith, a prominent lawyer,” Remington explains. “It was originally part of a larger estate that included a carriage house and a caretaker’s cottage.” Francis Smith eventually left the estate to his adopted Louisa Scott Smith, who sold the estate in separate parts before his death in 1950.
Remington recalls that the only piece of furniture in the house when she and her husband first arrived at18 Stoneleigh Way was the petticoat table. Equipped with a mirror at top and bottom “The ladies could check their petticoats when the walked by.” The wood paneling is also original, which explains why the house carries such a noble look. Complimenting the woodwork, the glass in the windows has settled over the years making the outside appear to be a shimmering mirage.
Remington eventually discovered that her house is not the only one of its kind. “When I was in Wichita, Kansas, I was in a museum and saw houses that looked like my design,” Remington says. “There were a lot of arches and the wood paneling looked similar.” After contacting the museum, she found out that the original architects, Hartwell and Richardson, had been working under the guise of a famous architect by the name of Richardson. “You’re not the first one to be fooled,” Remington recalls the man saying to her. She follows this with a good laugh.
“As we drove back into the woods and up to the house, it felt like we were going back in time.”
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Today, the house operates as a Bed and Breakfast, with five full rooms, seven fireplaces, a sitting room with a piano and a main room with a massive main staircase. But it wasn’t always that way. “When we came here over 35 years ago from the west coast, the house was all boarded up and hadn’t been occupied in six of seven years,” Remington says. “There was not a stick of furniture in the house, we did the cosmetic part.” The numerous beds, couches and sitting tables however, match the grandeur of the house, making it hard to distinguish the two.
As for business, Remington busy during the holidays. “I don’t count the number of visitors; they all love the house,” Remington says. “I keep my rates low, and sometimes things don’t get dusted that much.”
Rose Castor, A SUNY Plattsburgh student, spent a night at the castle over the summer. “As we drove back into the woods and up to the house, it felt like we were going back in time,” Castor said. “We knocked on the door and nobody answered so we just walked in.” Castor says she most enjoyed the ambience of the light, as well as the spacious side room.
“In the morning, all my guests ask me if I have a cat. They say they can feel it at their feet at night. Who knows if it’s true, but it makes me a believer.”
Aaron Adams, of Westport, NY grew up in one of the side houses that originally belonged to the estate. “Growing up as kids we saw it as a huge building that was mysterious and scary,” Adams recalls. But Adams also acknowledges the importance of the house; “It shows people what the area used to be like when it was more populated, and is a relic of a different time for the area.”
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Over the years, the “castle” in Elizabethtown has developed a character of its own. Remington smiles and explains that there is a ghost cat in the house. “Louisa Scott Smith had a lot of cats,” Remington says. “In the morning, all my guests ask me if I have a cat. They say they can feel it at their feet at night. Who knows if it’s true, but it makes me a believer.” According to Remington, the house has also served as a host to a wedding and several outstanding Halloween parties.
Gazing at the elaborate décor of the house today, it seems unfathomable that it was once an abandoned giant. “At first the house seemed big and empty,” Remington explains. “But over the years it has gained a personality of its own.”
Stoneleigh B&B Architecture
The infamous architects, Hartwell and Richardson, who designed Stoneleigh Bed and Breakfast were clearly crafty for banking off the Richardson name. However, even though they did use the Richardson name, the work they produced in the latter half of the 19th century showed that they were masters of their trade. Hartwell and Richardson mainly designed churches and schools, but did also design for the private sector.