Not far from the border of Vermont, just a few miles into the southwestern corner of New Hampshire lies the remains of what some people call a castle. While it isn’t quite as large as a castle would be, to the woman who lived in it, that is just what it was, her castle.
Born in 1878, Antoinette Bramare grew up in Paris France. Trained as a seamstress, she was also a dancer. She met an American and after they were married moved to New York City where they opened a millinery store. They designed and sold costumes for Broadway.
Her husband died in 1924 and the New York lifestyle no longer appealed to Madame Sherri as she was now known. Visiting a friend’s house in West Chesterfield New Hampshire, she fell in love with the area and decided to move there. She eventually bought 600 acres and designed her house.
When complete in 1929 the house had a curved stone staircase leading up to her personal accommodations on the second floor.
On the main floor she had a large bar which was accessed by walking through two trees which grew up through the roof. In the basement was a small bistro, complete with six tables covered with red tablecloths. She lived in a small farmhouse across the road; the castle was where she held her parties.
I am a bit leery of mentioning any of her supposed eccentricities. I have read numerous accounts on-line but as to how true they may be, I can’t say. I’ll just put these under “supposed things she has done.”
Some say she enjoyed shocking the shop keepers in the near-by town of Brattleboro. She would keep her money tucked in her bosom or in a garter she wore, flashing the merchants when she paid them. She was also “supposedly” fond of driving in her 1927 Packard wearing a fur coat…and nothing else. She was often accompanied by a monkey on a leash.
I also read that she ran a house of prostitution and a speakeasy but as to the reality of these tales, they came from the internet. I can remember my father telling me; just because it is printed in the newspaper doesn’t make it true! A wise man once said “Consider the source!”
When friends visited from NYC she would host parties for them. She would overlook the festivities sitting in an elaborate cobra backed chair. (Another rumor has it that the chair was stolen from the house and used as a throne at the prom of a local school)
Sadly her finances couldn’t support her party lifestyle and her fortune dropped into the poverty levels. She left the area for a few months and when she returned the house had been vandalized, china had been used for target practice and other items were stolen. She never returned to “The Castle” again.
The castle caught fire in 1962 leaving only the stone foundation and the large curved stairway reaching up…to nothing. She had moved into a rest home and after not being able to pay those bills, was moved to the county poor farm where she died in 1965.
The property was eventually turned over to The Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests. Trails have been made through her woods where the remains of her party house, her castle, still stand.
A sign beside a small parking lot and a scenic lake tells a bit of her life. A short walk brings you into the woods and to the ruins that Madame Sherri called home.
1 comment:
Very interesting
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