I received E-Mail that said:
There is a castle in Maine. I don't know the name of the castle other than to call it the South Gardiner Castle. That's the town that it is in, South Gardiner.
It has rolling fields and overlooks one of Maine's biggest rivers, Kennebec. I was told that the stones came over from England when it was built. it has another house for the maids quarters and also a stone bridge in the driveway.
Growing up the grounds were, and still are, open to the public to go sledding and cross country skiing in the winter. It's referred to as Mt. Tom. I don't know if that's the correct spelling. That may have something to do with the actual name of the place. I may be able to get you some good pictures of it but I'd have to do some more research about it to let you know more.
Later, I received E-Mail that said:
I had mentioned your web site to a friend and he said that the castle is the Gardiner Castle. The Gardiner family are the ones who founded the town of Gardiner. If I get the chance I will see what else I can find out.
Later, I received E-Mail that said:
You may obtain more information about the Gardiner Castle in Gardiner, Maine from the Gardiner Chamber of Commerce. Apparently, the castle has been rented out on occasion, for weddings and such, although it is not generally open to the public.
Later, I received E-Mail that said:
The "Gardiner Castle" is officially known as "The Oaklands". It was built between 1835 and 1837 for Robert Hallowell Gardiner, the grandson of the founder of the city of Gardiner and replaces an earlier structure that burned. I believe it is constructed of native Maine granite though the architect that designed it was English. The estate encompasses 310 acres along the Kennebec River and is still home to a working farm. The Gardiner family still owns the property. I have included some photos that I took on a recent trip home to Gardiner.
On 10-11-06, I received E-Mail that said:
I couldn't believe we found "our castle" on the internet. We both originate from South Gardiner-and used to go sliding on MT TOM (which is what they call the big hill directly in front of the castle) every winter. I must say though the castle is not in South Gardiner-it's still considered Gardiner until you get to the corner of the capen rd-off river road--river road is the road you see the castle from. My dads friend does maintenence at the castle and we tried to have the girl scouts plan a trip there but they were not allowing any visitors at that time.
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Photo courtesy of Rob Hicks.