Moultonborough … Castle in the Clouds!

This was a day out that kept giving! We arrived at the gates at the base of a narrow autoroad that took us to the summit. On the way we stopped and walked to the Fall of Song, a 40ft plunging waterfall …

… then headed via a viewpoint to the top where the views were even better, but the photos just don’t do it justice.

This is Lucknow, the mountaintop estate of Tom and Olive Plant, built in 1914 and called the Castle in the Clouds when it was opened to the public in 1959. He made his fortune in shoe manufacturing and newly married, spent around $1m building a dream house in the Arts and Crafts style drawing influences from his many travels designed by the architectural firm of J. Williams Beal & Sons of Boston.

The 16 room mansion commands amazing views of the lakes below from every window and the interiors were stylish and almost timeless.

It was fitted with the latest technology like needle showers, central vacuuming, ammonia refrigeration and an internal telephone system. It also had some lovely design touches like these stained glass roundels set into many of the windows and some with scenes from the estate.

We walked back to the carriage house for hot drinks then took one of the many hiking paths not far, just along Shannon brook to see a succession of waterfalls with the most impressive being Bridal Veil Falls at the end.

On the way back we stopped at the Squam River bridge, built just like a traditional covered bridge, but only in 1990.

Dinner at Walters Basin overlooking the moonlit lake was a lovely end to the day as was my excellent coffee bbq steak.

The following day was spent at Canterbury Shaker Village, now a museum, learning all about the Shakers before returning to Squam Lake Inn Kitchen for our last dinner.

Tomorrow, we set off homewards … with one last treat remaining …

Map