Did anyone grow up with a castle for a home or second/vacation home?
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Anonymous
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What was that like?
I’ve been to castles like Windsor while on vacation but what is it like growing up in one? Guessing it does not feel so much like a museum but I am curious. |
Anonymous
| I've talked to people who grew up in very old homes in England, though not technically castles. They say its cold and the plumbing or roof is always having issues. A couple of them in historic properties allow public access to part of the home, so they vacate on those weekends. |
Anonymous
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This is an interesting article about a woman who grew up in an inherited castle in Italy.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/article/ludovica-sannazzaro-castle-italy |
Anonymous
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What do you want to know?
My mother was born in a castle. All our relatives have their own castle. Ours wasn't well-maintained, because a lot of aristocrats who inherit castles don't necessarily have the funds to pay for the obnoxious costs of maintenance. By the time I was little, the rain would come through two storeys, and I would encounter random buckets in corridors and bedrooms, placed there to collect rainwater. Repairing the roof costs several million euros every time. When I was a baby I slept in an antique crib that had previously held several generations of ancestors. The beds are all ancient, and have seen multiple births and deaths. We change the mattresses, of course. There is no central heat or A/C. A/C never used to be a problem, since castle walls are thick, but in the future it will be. On cold winter days, the entrance hall is as cold as the outside. Doors to smaller apartments are kept firmly shut in winter. It's fireplaces and space heaters (on an electrical system that's obviously not up to the latest code). The very high ceilings make it hard to heat up rooms. Be careful when you go down into the caves (basement, original storage and kitchen with huge fireplace pits). There are snakes, including vipers. There are mice on every floor. But also, the library is a repository of several centuries of family history and history in general. There are family portraits and various paintings, a few of which are quite lovely. Knick knacks, plate, ornaments, tapestries, suits of armor - anything that escaped several rounds of thefts. Theft from castles is common and it's hard to pay for the kind of security systems that would entirely prevent them. My family's theft deterrents are shotguns and dogs. Our stables are housed in a cute medieval castle on the grounds. We sent some to the Olympics at one point. It was nice to get married there, get the horse-drawn carriage and everything. But the average person romantizes castle life and may not actually want to live there year round, I think. |
Anonymous
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Our "vacation" home was a fort that that at some point changed into a castle. I constantly wonder if I should just surrender to the entropy and let it return to a pile of stones.
I say vacation in quotes because it's always a ton of work when we get there. Even managing the staff is a lot to get updates and check up on everything. They stay in cottages on the property and their places are probably nicer than the castle because they have modernized plumbing and hvac systems. That being said, it was my childhood home and it was sort of magical carpeting up there. I can't really leave it because I'm responsible for it until my kids get old enough. My nephew is about to get his MBA and had all these starr-up ideas for the grounds so i hope he can help figure out it so it can be passed on in good shape. |
Anonymous
It’s great that your nephew has ideas to keep it up! I will confess that I (a plebeian descendant of peasants whose closest ancestral connection to a castle was a many times great grandmother who worked in one before she emigrated to Canada during the highland clearances) love the castle hotel and experience things, even if the plumbing is weird and you can’t avoid being aware of the outdoor whether indoors. So there’s an audience for it for sure! |
Anonymous
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OP here. These kinds of experiences are so interesting to me!
Do you often find yourselves searching the castle for other relatives? I’m assuming it’s hard to know who is home and when/where. |
Anonymous
| Not OP, but if any of you who have castle experience had part of it open to the public (as a hotel or museum or whatever) what was that like? Did you love or hate that people came to your home or was it so big you basically didn’t notice? |
Anonymous
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I grew up with grandparents who lived in a 16th century house in England, the largest in the village, where the whole community had traditionally met for their annual Christmas ball. But the balls stopped long before my grandparents moved in. There were still ancient roses in the rose garden and a huge vegetable garden that had been there hundreds of years.
Does that count? |
Anonymous
18:49. My great-grandparents' castle is now in government hands, with one relative living in one wing. It's a huge, historical place, way too much to maintain for just one family, even a wealthy one. The relative lives in the most modern wing, but parts of the castle date from medieval times (the dungeon), and ancestors just added to it over the centuries. It's a tourist attraction. I assume the relative has his own way of coming and going, unseen, not through the main gates or main courtyard, but I've never inquired. As for reaching other people in large homes, thank goodness for cell phones! Before that there were walkie-talkies. When we had a permanent staff, there were bells. Otherwise, my uncle has a VERY LOUD VOICE 
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Anonymous
| My friend grew up in a real castle in England. Her father was responsible for all of the castle's maintenance. |
Anonymous
Just by himself? Or did he have a while team of folks |
Anonymous
Do you mean a folly? there are no "real castles" in England that are not populated by or managed by the BRF or just ruins. |
Anonymous
There are manor and great houses that have original castle parts attached to them and look like castles. I read the sale advertisements for fun sometimes. Here's just one site... https://castleist.com/castles-for-sale-in-england/ |
Anonymous
What? Of course there are private castles in private hands in the UK. Usually owned by the aristocracy, those who survived the introduction of the income tax last century. It's the same all over Europe. https://anglotopia.net/british-history/the-fiver-five-british-castles-still-in-private-ownership/ And the article doesn't mention it, but there are smaller, but real castles, still owned by private individuals. |