Dovecote & Garden

It is believed that this structure was the first built by the Boldts while they were remodeling the original frame "cottage" on the Island in 1894. The stone tower was topped with a wooden structure designed for use as a dove house. It is said that this structure was part of a "Hennery" where the Boldts collected exotic fowl. Around the base of the tower and following the graceful curve of the retaining wall, a greenhouse was built complete with a palm room.

The Italian Garden was located in the area to the east of the castle ballroom in the general area of the Dovecote. The rocky crest of the Island was extended into a level plateau by making a promenade terrace above the stone walled service tunnel. This tunnel led from the castle basement to the service dock. In contrast to the more natural landscape elsewhere on the Island, the garden was designed to be geometrically formal becoming the most elaborate feature of the exterior decoration. Marble statuary was imported from Italy, but never installed. (It was found nearly half a century later, still crated, where it had sunk in an old boat house.) At the opposite extremity of the garden from the castle, a fountain and pool were surrounded by a curved lower terrace overlooking the picturesque roofscape of the Power House and the St. Lawrence River beyond.

The Boldts and their architects spent three years and "a small fortune" renovating and building additions to the original cottage so that it had become the showplace on the river. Then in 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Boldt suddenly had it demolished so they could begin construction of their dream home. A portion of the original cottage was relocated to Wellesley Island and is part of the golf house still standing today.