The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter., 1961-07-14
BERKLEY CASTLE
is A SNOWFLAKE
IN W. VIRGINIA
Showplace in Mountains in Mini.
AZURE OF Castle Where King
Edward Died

Strongly entrenched on the noun
tain side, it's gray stone turrets
silhouetted against the West Vir-
ginia sky, Berkeley Castle looks
majestically down upon the little
town of Berkeley Springs. And so
it has stood for nearly century,
mute testimony to mans devotion
and a woman's beauty.
Copied in miniature after Eng
lands famed Berkeley - pronounc-
ed "Barkeley" Castle, in which
King Edward II was murdered in
1927, the American counterpart was
built on the promise of 17-year old
Rose Pelham TO marry wealthy, 60
year old Colonel S. Taylor Suit if
he would build her "castle in the
air''. The eager suitor promised,
Rose promptly accepted him, and
together they selected the site,
formerly part of the Lord Fairfax
estate, on which the castle now
stands. Shortly after, Rose and the
Colonel were wed, and construction
on the castle begun.
An Englishman who had made
his home and his fortune in Amer
lea, Suit was one of the outstanding
architects in the nations capital.
In drawing up the plans his only
concession to change was an oaken
floor in the great hall in lieu Of
the great stone slabs found in the
English castle. And this because
Rose, as gay as she was beautiful,
wanted to use the Great Hall as
a ballroom.
The interior walls are of the
same greystone as the exterior.
Three feet thick and as sturdy to-
day as they were first hauled into
place, they are said to have cost
$40 per stone-the price for hauling
them from the Cacapon Mountains
from which they were quarried.
The Castle was six years in the
building. In the meatime the couple
had three children, two sons and
daughter. However, it was suf-
ficiently completed in three years
and they spent summers there
driving down by horse and car
riage-from Washington. They en-
tertained lavishly the guests flock
ing in from Richmond, Baltimore
and Washington. Many remained
over the weekend for the castle
had 35 rnoms.
The Colonel died shortly before
the 'inal finishing touches were
completed, and so determined was
he that the castle be an exact copy
of the English manse that he stipu-
lated in his will that his widow
must carry out his original plans
to the letter or forfeit the million
dollars he left her. Needless to say
she did so.
After her husbands death Mrs
Suit continued to entertain as law
ishly as before. But even the Colo
nel's fortune could not withstand
the constant drain and eventually
the widow found herself faced with
bills she could not pay. Then her
lovely young daughter died-at
seventeen the same age at which
her mother had been married. She
began borrowing on her trust fund
Then she mortgaged the castle,
Unable to meet the payments she
eventually lost it to the bank for
mere 81 900. Old and impoverish-
ed, she left Berkeley Springs to
live with one of her sons on his
ranch in the West. According to
the legend she lived for more than
30 years but she never returned
to the scene of her former social
triumphs.
Years passed and the castle
gradually fell into disrepair al
though it's walls continued to re-
main impervious to wind and
weather.
In 1854, after having served as
boys school, it was purchased by
Walter NJ. Bird, son of the famous
Presbyterian minister, the late DR..
Andrew Bird. Mr.. Bird has gradual
ly restored the castle to its former
glory although there is still much