Friday, December 9, 2022

Hammond Castle-Part 1

Hi everyone. Happy end of another work  week to you.
Today I am joining Nicole for her Friday Face Off   challenge and also linking up to Gillena's Friday Lunch Break.

Back in late September, a couple of friends and I took a mini-road trip down to Gloucester, Massachusetts to visit Hammond Castle. We had a fun day out, and I thought today I would share some face photos from the day.


Yes Hammond Castle is actually a castle. Or looks like one. The man who built the castle was John Hays Hammond Jr.. He wanted the inside to  have all of the modern state of the art items, at least the items that were state of the art in 1926 when the construction of the Castle began. This building may look like it is ancient, but it isn't truly a medieval castle. 

 Hammond was a prolific inventor. One of his biggest inventions was radio control, which is the forerunner of modern remote controlled devices such as those used in military missiles and in other unmanned devices. He had over 400 patents for items he developed; here's a list of a few that I copied off of Hammond's Wikipedia page. (And I'm not certain what the numbers after each patent are for-perhaps that is the patent number.)

10/21/1919 – System of Teledynamic Control (1,275,741)
5/20/1922 – System for Radio Control of Moving Bodies (1,420,258)
11/6/1928 – Submarine sound transmission (1,500,243)
3/18/1929 – Multi-channel radio system (1,717,662)
12/29/1931 – Secret Radio Communication (1,838,762)
5/19/1931 – Paravane Torpedo (1,806,346)
12/14/1936 – Gaseous Detector of Radiant Energy (1,610,371)
5/27/1941 – Variable Pitch Propeller Control (2,243,095)
7/11/1944 – Radio Alarm System (2,343,499)


Hammond was also well traveled and an admirer of art. His wife was actually an artist, and it was she, after Hammond died in 1965, who helped maintain the castle as a landmark and opened it for tours and special events.

Here's one of the 2 fierce faces that meet you at the bridge over the water-free moat.
(I thought of you Iris.)



After entering through those gorgeous front doors, you enter into this great hall. Most items in this hall were brought from Europe (by Hammond) to make this room  feel more authentic. 


Here's a few more faces for you. I'm not exactly sure who the people in the photos are, but I am guessing maybe Hammond or his family.





The woman in the next photo  was our guide. You could tour the castle on your own, but we decided it was worth getting the back stories the guide had to offer.

If you look above the guide you can see some more faces on the wall.


In some photos it was hard not to get other people who were touring the castle also.


In the next photo you can see the pipes of a giant organ Hammond built. It is one of the largest organs in the world as it has 8,400 pipes (according to what I found on the internet). Hammond also had several patents for organ development also.


And here's the organ. If you look carefully you can see a few more faces in the framed pieces on it.


And here's a few more views around the great hall.







That's the photos for this Friday.
I'll share more of the castle and more faces next week. Have a great start to your weekend.
And as always, thanks for visiting.







 









28 comments:

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Yes, this is a fascinating place and one we have visited as well, Erika, during out castle finding phases a couple of years ago. Hammond was certainly a prolific inventor.

CJ Kennedy said...

Isn't Hammond Castle a great place? Hammond must have been a fascinating dude with all the things he invented. Sounds like a nice weekend. Are you expecting the dreaded s- word?

Gene Black said...

I had never heard of Hammond Castle. After seeing the organ, I wonder if he was the originator of the Hammond Organ brand.

Iris Flavia said...

Henry says thank you, Erika and hi Cousin!
This is really quite an impressive place and I look forward to see more.
Yet I wonder... how do you heat that place?!
Maybe I wonder cause I´m freezing my butt off despite Ingo brought me white mulled wine after this work week.
To a great weekend, hugs

Jeanie said...

What a beautiful castle -- and a fascinating place. I must put this on my "Massachusetts" list! Hammond sounds like an interesting fellow!

Christine said...

Looks nice there

DVArtist said...

You visit the most beautiful places. I am honored that you share them with FFO. Have a lovely day.

kathyinozarks said...

wow this is such an amazing place-so grand-I can't imagine this as a home, did you get to tour bedrooms and kitchens. You find the coolest places to visit hugs
Happy friday and weekend Kathy

Words and Pictures said...

Looks like a wonderful place to visit. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Alison x

Birgit said...

I was o Gloucester 25 yrs ago and never knew this place. I ha e to see this one day. It looks amazing!

craftytrog said...

What an amazing place! Great photos Erika.

carol l mckenna said...

Wow! Great photos of Hammond Castle ~ very nearby to us ~ Xo

Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Gillena Cox said...

Erika
I Am so very.impressed with this post. I find Hammond Castle very interesting.
Thanks for linking to Art For Fun Friday.
Much💜love

sirkkis said...

Interesting place. Thanks for sharing the great photos.
Here it is forecasted more snow...☃️❄️
Have a wonderful weeken 😘

Divers and Sundry said...

Sooo cool! That'd make a fun trip.

Angie's Recipes said...

Such a beautiful castle!

Lowcarb team member said...

It does look a great place to visit, I enjoyed your photographs.

Happy weekend wishes.

All the best Jan

David M. Gascoigne, said...

An impressive location, Erika, well worthy of a visit. I wonder what Hammond would think of today's guided missiles and the ability to send vehicles into space and bring them back again. Hugs - David

Carola Bartz said...

That looks like an interesting place to visit. I wonder though why someone wants to copy a medieval castle, it must be so expensive to heat. Those candles in the fireplace sure don't do the job, even though they look beautiful. Have a lovely weekend, Erika.

Valerie-Jael said...

This is a fun place to visit, it really looks like an old castle. Hammond was a clever man! Thanks for sharing the great faces, and happy FFO! Hugss, Valerie

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I really appreciated the visit to Hammond Castle through your lens. It certainly looks like a castle to me, especially the way it is decorated. That organ is wonderful and I also wonder if it's the same as the Hammond Organ we had at our church.

The numbers behind the patent may well be the patent number or a reference to the working model. Back then, and until (I'm thinking) the late 1970s, you had to submit a working model in order to receive a patent. The working models are kept even after the patent has been submitted. Today you can just submit a drawing and show there is no other like your invention.

BTW, I read your comment about videos. I saw the Cena video during a commercial break while I was watching Jeopardy. I don't watch video's either, but this was on TV and the ONLY show I try to watch every day.

pearshapedcrafting said...

Hammond Castle certainly looks like an authentic castle and n interesting place to visit, hugs, Chrisx

Let's Art Journal said...

What a fabulous place to visit! I so enjoyed looking round with you 😊. Take care and happy weekend! Hugs Jo x

The Padre said...

Incredibly Photographed - Well Done E

Cheers

ashok said...

Iam always fascinated by such places..thanks for sharing

Soma @ InkTorrents.com said...

I had no idea there are castles like that in the US. So fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing the photos and the story.

-Soma

Neet said...

Fascinating photos Erika, but even more fascinating is the story you told us that accompanies all of this blog post. What a great man Hammond was. A scientist and a man of art all rolled into one with some history and architecture as well.
This was a most interesting journey and I look forward to more.
Hugs, Neet xx

Dixie @ Arranged Words said...

What a great castle.
Thank you for sharing.