CRAIG-E-CLAIRE CASTLE I received E-Mail that said: This is a
news-paper clipping found in family Bible....
The Times Harold-Record
Sullivan Retrospect
By John Conway Oct.27,1993
Mystery still shrouds Dundas Castle There seems to be more misinformation in
circulation about the history of the Dundas Castle, Craig-E-Clare, than about
any other structure in Sullivan County. I say that without hesitation, and as
proof I will submit several weeks worth of material I have accumulatedfrom
various sources in the country. I am still sifting through much of that
information, but there are some things I am certain are true, and others I am
certain are not. For instance: Ralph Wurts-Dundas, who built the castle prior
to his death in 1921, was the granson of William Wurts, one of three brothers
who built the Delaware & Hudson Canal. He was not, as so many rumors have
persisted, associated with the Packard Corporation, nor was he of Scottish
nobility, or the owner of other, identical castles throughout he world. Dundas'
father,William Wilberforce Wurts,was one of 14 children of William Wurts. He was
born in March of 1841,and graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1861. Wurts served as a Lieutentant Colonel in the 7th New York
Cavalry during the civil war, and was subsequently appointed a diplomatic
attache, living first in Italy, and then in France. Wurts married Anna Maria
Dundas Lippincott of Philadelphia in June, 1868. She was the only daughter of
Joshua and Agnes Dundas Lippincott, a sister of James Dundas Lippincott, and a
niece of James Dundas. All were prominent folks. Upon their marriage, William
Wilberforce Wurts, or "the Mayor," as he was known, had his surname legally
changed to Wurts-Dundas. Ralph Wurts-Dundas was born in Brussels, Belgium in
1871. He returned to this country with his father around 1880, and lived in New
York. He married Josephine Harmar of Philadelphia, and they often summered in
Gloucester,Massachusetts, where they owned a magnificent home called Bass Rock.
(In fact, Wurts-Dundas died in Gloucester in October, 1921.) In 1907, he came
to Sullivan County, where he purchased some 1,000 acres
from silk manufacture Morris Sternback. Sometime thereafter, he began
construction of Craig-E-Clare, his castle. He wouldnever see it completed, dying
during the final stages of its construction. His wife, Josephine, was
committed to a sanitorium owned by Dr. Flavis Packer in Riverdale in 1922. At
the time her estate was said to be worth some $400,000. The couple's only child,
Muriel Harmer Wurts-Dundas, married James R. Herbert Boone of Baltimore,
Maryland in 1930. The wedding was considered "one of the most important of the
summer, uniting members of families that figured prominently in the early
history of this country." That's the information of which I am reasonably
certain at this point. Much of it comes fom Don Allen of Roscoe, NY,who is
heading up a town committee looking into refurbishing the castle. The stories
that seem to be of dubious origin are numerous. For instance there seems to be
no evidence that Josephine Wurts-Dundas ever lived in the castle or spent
much time in the Roscoe area. So stores that there was a section of the castle
in which she was kept a virtual prisoner because of her deteriorated mental
state are probably untrue. So too, likely, are the stories that several of the
rooms had o inside doorknobs ( to keep her within) or fingernail scratches in
the woodwork (from her effort to escape.) I have also found no evidence to
support the story that Mrs. Wurts-Dundas lost her mind because of local towns-
people's virulent objection to her habit of riding horse-back through the town,
tossing gifts to the children. There are still a number of unanswered
questions surounding the castle and its owners,including, but not limited to
what brought them to Sullivan County in the first place, and the significance of
the name Craig-E-Clare. I have some leads for nothing definitive yet. Many
thanks to Wilmer Sipple,Don Allen,Evelyn Hass,Louis Hofer and Doris Bees for
their interest in the topic and their assistance in accumulating
information. Later, I received E-Mail that said: I work in a Nursing Home in
upstate New York and we are studying castles of the United States. I came across
an topic on the Craig-E-Claire castle in Sullivan County, New York. I have been
in this castle and it is in pretty bad shape. (vandalism) It was and still can
be a great place if fixed up. The marble and stone work is magnificant. There's
a fenced in court yard that the daughter was supposed to have been locked in,
and the father built 3 heart shaped ponds on the bank to show his daughter that
he loved her. You can still see the shapes of the ponds. The caretakers of the
castle was the "Pomeroy's" , Not sure if they still are or not. Later, I
received E-Mail that said: It is located on Beaverkill Road outside of Roscoe,
NY When you go down Beaverkill Rd you will come across and old iron fence and
gates lined by big pine trees (Georgeous). The driveway is just passed it. It is
private property and it is very run down.
Basically it is condemned which is sad. If you go past the gates on Beaverkill
road and look up to the left of the mountain you can see the walls and towers.
It is very small. It has marble floors and fireplace in each room. Electric was
placed in it but I would say it is old, old, old. It would be really beautiful
fixed up. The story behind it I heard was that a man had built it for his wife
and she went crazy or got really sick and never finished it before she died. It
is really neat and very historical if you can uncover its past. Later, I
received E-Mail that said: The structure is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places and is owned by a Masonic Lodge. I went to summer camp on the
same property, Camp Eureka, almost 40 years ago. The Masons bought the property
with the intent to open a home for the aged in the remote and tranquil setting
of the Beaverkill River. My mother recalls touring the castle in the sixties and
seeing the stone great room, spiral
staircase, and beautiful guest rooms. She thinks it was a resort for Masons and
had many overnight guests. Recently I visited the camp and castle. Although
the property is private, a caretaker was kind enough to allow us to visit and
take pictures. In spite of the condition, the castle is still magnificent. The
picture you have looks like the one I received from the National Register (If
anyone is interested in the history of the castle, you can order a package from
the National Register of Historic Places for free.) Later, I received E-Mail
that said: In the off chance that the internet would offer information about
the castle Craig-E-Claire I searched the internet and found your site. You see,
my father, Eugene H. Martin and his wife, Babette, lived on the grounds of that
castle at the time I was born, on April 12, 1941. Dad was caretaker of the
castle and often showed by the wooden framed windows that he repaired during
that time. He would give private tours of the castle
once in a while. I still have a photo of it, I think one that was taken in 1939.
My mother told me of how she would bathe me in the Beaverkill river, and I
clearly remember the castle and the wonderful tall pines that led up to our
house, which was the caretaker's house, where we lived. I seem to remember the
intercom system, of all things, and Dad said how unusual he thought that was. He
often talked about the marble floors. Dad told the story of a man whose wife was
mentally ill, and how he built the castle for her. He definitely told me that he
brought the castle stone-by-stone from Scotland, and that it was not finished
before his wife died. He never said that she lived in the castle or was near
it. Later, I received E-Mail that said: I was recently at Craig-E-Clare
Castle, or Dundas Castle, as I had known it to be. I had recently become a
consoler there for this summer. And one of the consolers who had been there
longer than me told me that it use to be a requirement to go
to the Castle and well look through it. I had went in myself, but when we had
brought some of the kids up there. There are alot of stories about that Castle.
Like, one summer, every consoler that went up there had a horrible accident and
had to leave camp before it was actually over. Also, one time, some of the
kids went up there one night and strangely, the doors locked, trapping them
inside until help was found. Only things is that the doors had no working locks
or no locks at all. Then, the wife of the Mr. Dundas was said to be seen many
times. She was seen in a white dress but was a blur. You'd only know it was her
if you saw the white dress but that was it. Also, there is the shed of the
Castle that no one wanted to tear down, saying that they saw "green eyes" inside
it. And it is rumored that there are pictures of Mr. Dundas' wife where the eyes
follow you. I did actually go inside the house. Both in the night and in the
day. It is occupied with bats but mostly, the place
is clean. No furniture but one room had significant vandalism. And the ceiling
are low. But many rooms and bathroom. I did hear the stories of Mrs. Dundas to
have gone "crazy" and I heard she was commited. But seriously, you don't want to
spend a night over in that area. It gets pitch black up there, and it can make
you very paranoid, especially when you go into that Castle. I didn't go into
the cellar or the kitchen though. I heard some very bad stories about those
specific places. But one more thing, about the hart shaped pools. I didn't know
there were three, but from the entrance of the Castle, you can't see it. There
is a steep cliff, and it is very dangerous. It can only be viewed from the
highway. There are rumors that it fills with blood on a full moon. I don't know
what to believe, but honestly, I think it's haunted. Though I won't mind going
there again. On 7027-05, I received E-Mail that said: I just went up to
Roscoe, NY to see "Craig-E-Claire" castle. It is a
really unusual castle. It sits on a smaller mountain overlooking a river and is
surrounded by other taller mountains. The 25 ft tall, ornate gates of rusting
wrought iron stand suddenly beside the rural road and a drive of dark hemlocks
curves upward past the caretakers house -(who were nice and like to be asked to
see the castle)... further up the long drive you come across the house beyond a
field sitting amongst large dark pines at the edge of the mountain. You enter
the estate through a porte cochere that has 3 story turrets on either side that
contain within pale pink marble stairs in each. The arched porte cochere leads
into a large courtyard. Within the arched passage there is a door to the left
where you enter the main body of the house. There is a rather small, charming,
entrance hall with the circular stairs peeking through a gothic arched door(as
all the doors are shaped inside). Ahead there are stairs to a long low ceilinged
drawing room with a decorative tiled floor
and large crved and painted fireplace. Most of the windows have been broken -
although the house itself is in pretty good shape. There is also a small study
on this level, as well as the servant's wing with kitchen, pantry, refridgerator
room, and butler's pantry wih dumbwaiter. What I find very strange is the way
you have to go up the stairs to the second floor and over the port cochere and
down the other tower stairs to get into the large formal dining room. There is
no formal way of entering the room from the first floor, though there is a door
to the pantry. There is also a door to a strange, raised, iron-fenced walk to a
pair of crenelated twin towers seperate from the castle. They serve as veiwing
gazebos to look down to the river far below. The Dining room has a floor to
ceiling carved stone medieval fireplace and walls carved and plastered to
simulate stone. A large window looks down to the river The one end of the
house appears to me to be a guest house attached to the
main house and has seperate entrance through another port cochere and no access
to the main house.Upstairs there seems to be about 8 or 9 bedrooms and numerous
baths and dressing rooms. The floors are all marble, even the third floor
floors. I really hope this house is restored, it is a real beauty. Back to
"Castles of the United States"
Thanks to Elinor for sending the photo.
Ezekiel M. Bey