Glen Eyrie- Colorado Springs, CO

Glen Eyrie sits squarely at the intersection of amazing architecture and spectacular scenery, two of my absolute favorite things. Located on a stunning piece of property at the base of Queen’s Canyon, the castle is almost as magical as the surrounding red rocks.

Built by railroad magnate and Colorado Springs founder William Jackson Palmer in 1871, the site’s original 20 room clapboard house was decidedly less English. It was not until 1901, when Palmer sold the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad for $6 million, that Glen Eyrie emerged. Designed by architect Frederick J. Sterner in the Tudor style, the massive 67 room mansion took more than 2 years to complete.

Constructed with stone quarried from the grounds, the inside was luxuriously appointed with ornate oak paneling. Boasting more than twenty fireplaces, the massive 33,000 square foot mansion contained a solarium, bowling alley, billards room, and a magnificent Great Hall, complete with an orchestra balcony. Palmer died in 1909 at Glen Eyrie, leaving the estate to his daughters.

Palmer’s daughters first tried to donate the estate to the city of Colorado Springs, who declined on the basis of ongoing maintenance costs. It then languished until 1916, when a group of Oklahoma businessmen purchased the property for $150,000, with the intention of opening a golf resort. World War I laid ruin to those plans; they then sold the castle to Alexander Smith Cochran in 1922 for $450,000.

Cochran closed the castle, and constructed a much smaller vacation home on the site. He remained at the estate until his death in 1929, just as the Great Depression took hold of the country. The property then sat on the market for almost a decade, until Texas oil tycoon George W. Strake bought it in 1938, for just $200,000.

In 1953, Strake sold both the estate and an adjacent lakeside lot to a religious group for $300,000. Known as the Navigators, they continue to use the property as a spiritual retreat, offering lodging, seminars and tours.