THIRLSTANE OF HAMILTON HILL - BAR HARBOR'S VANISHING CASTLE

According to a newspaper article by the Mount Desert Islander, the area many locals refer to as Schoolhouse Hill was recently sold to Chris Swan and Scott Henggeler for a mere 3.9 million.  The area is officially known as Hamilton Hill, was previously owned by William Pearson Hamilton and Robert Juliano and the main feature of this property is the huge Manson that sets atop Hamilton Hill, which set  pretty much empty for so many years.  Hamilton had purchased the property from Gen. Edward de V. Morrell and his wife.  One of the more interesting features of the Mansion is the huge columns to the front of the mansion, which were found in the nearby woods by Juliano's children and were incorporated into the mansion he had built.  Throughout the mansion is interesting building materials Juliano included in the building of the mansion, materials he collected over the years from a business he ran demolishing buildings and salvaging materials in New Jersey.  The huge pink columns his children found in the woods nearby, however, are believed to have been from an estate that burned down in the fire of '47.

THE MANSION OF HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR MAINE

Just below the mansion, nearly in its shadows are located the remains of another rich estate, Thirlstane, those remains often refereed to as the Castle of Schoolhouse Hill.  The remains of Thirlstane are a cross between a fort and an ancient castle, with two sides being enclosed in a tall castle-like granite walls, with one tower still standing as of 2017, located at the far corner where where two tall walls join.  The tower is said to have a small fireplace in it with a window looking out toward downtown Bar Harbor.  As you looked down from the mansion there once was five or six large white columns with a large in ground pool behind the columns, and on the other side of the pool was a tall wall with fancy oval windows with a changing area whose floor and walls were lined with tiles.  A third wall was formed by a number of large granite rooms with arched doorways between the rooms leading to the other side.  At least two or more of the granite rooms on the other side were either taken down or destroyed during the fire of 47.  The pool was way ahead of its time in that along one entire wall of the pool, at the under water level, was a series of small round windows which allowed people in the underground room on the other side of the pool to view anyone swimming inside the pool.
To reach the underground section of the compound you would walk outside of the tall granite wall and along the outside wall was a doorway leading to the underground area.  As you entered the first room, there was a long narrow hallway leading further back into the hillside, with other rooms.  One of those rooms was the room with the round windows which looked out into the pool.  Over the years the ceilings where propped up with thick steel poles.  In the nearby woods are other remains of stone buildings that were once part of the Thirlstane compound.
Prior to the property being sold, I have been told by a number of people it had become obvious that sections of the old Thirlstane remains were being taken down, this included some  of the above ground rooms as well as those towering  columns along one side of the pool and the tall wall with its oval windows along the other side of the pool.
The Thirlstane remains with its many rooms over the years became a sort out area for drinking and a place where people could crash for a night or two.  At least one person made one of the rooms his rent free pad until he got rudely greeted one evening as he approached the room by security.  Over the years the police have been called to the area by neighbors who reported seeing people enter the property, which is heavily posted, and the trespassers were given a warning not to return to the property again.

FIRE PLACE IN TOWER
BAR HARBOR VANISHING CASTLE

Bar Harbor Record
November 16, 1898



Colonel Morrell's Beautiful Summer Home On Malden Hill

There are now in Bar Harbor nearly three hundred handsome residents built by rich and prominent people from almost every part of the union, who were attracted to the island by the marvelous beauties with which nature with a lavish hand, has endowed it.
The beautiful and costly mansions, styled in the humble vernacular "cottages," are scattered over the narrow plateau or perched amid the foliage on the foothills which lie between the mountains and the bay.
When first the glowing canvas of wandering artists heralded abroad the beautiful scenery of the romantic island and attracted the earlier summer visitors to the shores of Frenchman's Bay, land was cheap and good building sites were numerous.  Hence the first arrivals had a wide domain from which to select, and naturally chose the most picturesque and commanding situations for their summer homes.
The first tracts of land sold to non-residents were those along the storefront facing the bay and the distant ocean.  The restless moods of the ever-changing sea seemed to attract the earlier settlers, and they built their homes within hearing of its murmuring waves.  Then, when the more desirable of these sites were occupied, the next arrivals lifted their gaze  toward the hills over looking the village and found there charming and picturesque spots where the eye  might range over a grand panorama of bay and ocean, mountains and forests.
One of the earliest and most beautiful situated of these mountain eyries, the Thirlstane, built on Malden Hill over-looking Kebo Street by Mrs. Rebecca B. Scott of Washington D.C..  For years the house was occupied by that lady and her son, Mr. Owen Scott.  In the fall of 1897, after the death of Mrs. Scott, the estate was purchased by Col. Edward Morrell of Philadelphia;  and since last spring a crew of carpenters under the charge of A.E. Lawrence, contractor, has been busy making improvements and additions to the old house.
Today, Thirlstane is practically a new house.  A long, two story addition has been built to the kitchen wing.  the entrance hall and dinning room have been greatly enlarged and entirely remodeled;  and a wing forty feet in length has been built on the south end and finished for a study and library.  the piazza on the east front has been rebuilt and lengthened to cover the additions on each wing.  At the southwest corner a very handsome flight of granite steps connects this piazza with the garden in front of the house;  and a stone terrace with tiled floor has been built out over the brow of the hill on the northeast corner.
It is in the decoration and finish of the public rooms at Thirlstane, however, that the most wonderful transformation has been wrought.  All that art could desire and skill effect has been employed to render these apartments pleasing to the eye and convenient for the purposes for which they will be used.
The main hall extends across the entire width of the house, with windows on the east side overlooking the village and the bay, and a door opening on the piazza.  The original length of the hall has been much increased on the northern end and the apartment has now the dimensions of an old baronial hall.
The hall is entered from the west by double doors, with panels of leaded glass in beautiful floral designs of a golden amber tint.  On either side the doors are windows of the same design.  The wainscoting is of panel work;  and the walls and ceilings are plastered and tinted a rich warm green.  A large open fireplace surrounded by a handsome mantel make the dining room as it should be, the brightest room in the house.  A wide door, with plate glass panels gives access to the porch on the eastern side.  The floor, like that of the hall, is of quartered oak.
But the masterpiece of workmanship and art at Thirlatane, is the study, which formsm the new southern wing of the house.  Entering it, the visitor seems to leave this place and century, and find himself in some old english manor house of the Elizabethan period.
Every bit of woodwork in the room is oak.  The floor is of the most beautifully figured quartered oak;  the beams and rafters in the roof are of oak;  and the window seats, the book cases, and the settle by the fireplace all are oak.
A flight of three steps under a wide archway lead down from the parlor to this room which has a length of nearly forty feet and a width of twenty feet.  The oak panelled are eight and a half feet in heigth and are intersected by double casement windows of leaded glass, the architraves between them beautifully decoratecd with carved work.
The oak beams and rafters in the roof form panels which are filled in with plaster work.  The walls are surmounted by a carved frieze in sections four feet in length between the ends of the rafters.  three grinning faces, hideous dwarfs, and creatures of bygone ages, look down on the visitor from every corner;  and add to the antiquated style of the room.
In the eastern wall is an immerse fireplace, 4 x 6 feet in the open.  The face is built of Indiana limestone and the hearth is a single flagstone.  Stone corbels grin on either corner.  The heavy mantel twelve feet in length, is beautifully carved from one solid piece of oak.
All the fine carvings in this room were done by the boys of industrial school, Philadelphia.  The handsome oak paneling was also made in that city.  The work of building this wing, however, and fitting and putting the material together was all done under the superintenence of the contractor, Mr. A.E. Lawrence;  and this as well as the work in all other parts of the house, speaks well of his skill and good judgement.  The architects were Messrs Cope & Stewardson of Philadelphia, and Messrs Savage & Straton supervised the work as their local agents.
Modern plumbing of the latest mode and design has been introduced through out the house, Messrs Leighton Davenport & Co. doing the work.  The plumbing in the Butlers pantry is as fine a job of work as was ever done in town.  The double sink and long drain board and back, of fine German silver, is a beautiful and costly piece of workmanship.  The painting through out the house has been done by Graham & Tabbutt and shows both taste and skill.  The handsome stonework was built by George L. Wescott.
With its alterations and improvements Thirlstane is now one of the handsomest residences in Bar Harbor;  while its commanding situation gives its owners as fine a view as this beautiful region affords.




William Pierson Hamilton and his wife purchased Thirlstane Cottage from the Morrell's, Hamilton also purchased a good size horse farm in Salisbury Cove, named Thirlstane Farm, though I have been unable to learn if the Morrell's also had owned the horse farm.  Hamilton made improvements to the horse farm at Salisbury Cove and went on to enter some of the animals in the Bar Harbor horse shows held at Robin Hood Park.  The head florist at Thirlstane Cottage was a man named Joseph Cahill from Beverley, Mass..

BIG GUN AIMED IN DIRECTION OF DOWNTOWN BAR HARBOR
THE CASTLE OF HAMILTON HILL

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
HAMILTON HILL

THE CASTLE OF HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR MAINE

DOORWAY INTO THE TOWER
HAMILTON HILL, BAR HARBOR

STEPS TO THE POOL
THE CASTLE OF HAMILTON  HILL

THE MANSION OF HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR MAINE

FIRST OF THE UNDERGROUND ROOMS
THE CASTLE OF HAMILTON HILL

LONG UNDERGROUND HALLWAYS CONNECT ROOMS
CASTLE OF HAMILTON HILL

POOL - SMALL ROUND WINDOWS TO THE LEFT
BAR HARBOR'S VANISHING CASTLE

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
HAMILTON HILL, BAR HARBOR

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
BAR HARBOR

POOL WITH A MILLION DOLLAR VIEW
HAMILTON HILL, BAR HARBOR

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
BAR HARBOR

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
HAMILTON HILL, BAR HARBOR

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
BAR HARBOR - HAMILTON HILL

REMAINS OF THIRLSTANE
HAMILTON HILL - BAR HARBOR

VIEW FROM HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR MAINE

VIEW FROM HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR MAINE

BAR HARBOR'S VANISHING CASTLE
HAMILTON HILL - BAR HARBOR

STANDING GUARD ON HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR

HAMILTON HILL
BAR HARBOR, MAINE

WALLS OF HAMILTON HILL CASTLE  - BAR HARBOR

HAMILTON HILL - BAR HARBOR MAINE
THE TOWER

As I was doing research on the history of the Bar Harbor Water company, I came across information that shows at one time Schoolhouse Hill was called Scott's Hill.  In this old post cad of Scott's Hill, you see this building to the left, I believe that building is Thirlstane, the cottage, which would of been right next to the area many refer to the Castle, where guests at Thirlstane where entertained.  When doing a search for images it is important to remember that there was two Thirlstane's, one located in Salisbury cove by Hamilton Pond which was a farm where they raised  show horses, and the one on Schoolhouse Hill - both properties were owned at one time by the same family.




To view even more photos, see my blog at the link below on The Castle of Schoolhouse Hill.

CASTLE OF SCHOOLHOUSE HILL

THE CRITERION
Cottage Street, Bar Harbor

HOMANS PROPERTY FOR SALE
W.H. SHERMAN & SON
Bar Harbor Maine

MORRELL PARK RIDING SCHOOL
Bar Harbor

M.F. RICHARDS HORSE SHOER
Bar Harbor

HOTEL EVERARD
Cottage Street, Bar Harbor

THE ISLESFORD HOTEL

THE NEWPORT HOTEL
Bar Harbor