

28, both castles are open on weekends from 11 a.m. Directions can be found: Hours: The castles are open today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. Where: Mac-A-Cheek castle, 10051 Township Road 47, West Liberty and Mac-O-Chee castle, 2319 OH-287, West Liberty. The property can also be rented for weddings, reunions and meetings. They are open daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day and on weekends in early spring and late fall.Ī variety of activities are held at the Piatt Castles during the year including workshops, interactive events for children, concerts and Shakespeare on the lawn. The Piatt Castles are open for tours from mid-April until the end of October. “And I think this house museum enables us to feel and think deeply about what does one generation pass on to the next?” “All historic house museums have the potential to help people feel the sense of home, that’s really what they are about,” Piatt said. Piatt said her goal is for visitors to think about their own family experiences as they tour the castles. “We are looking for a strategic partner because we no longer believe we can restore this building.” “This castle was designed to entertain and is more elegant and beautiful than the other, but is in terrible need of repair,” Piatt said. Explore »»Read this remarkable letter sent to a slave master from escaped slave living in Dayton Several families owned the property until the Piatt family bought it back in 1957. Donn wrote in a den filled with sunlight and was watched over by a stuffed owl.ĭonn died in 1891 and Mac-O-Chee was sold.
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The master bedroom walls are stenciled with designs similar to wallpaper with lace curtains painted by free hand along the top.Įlla kept scrapbooks and sketchbooks in her parlor as well as a machine designed to help her with physical therapy. The second floor offers a glimpse into the couples’ private life. In the library, four portraits adorn each corner of the ceiling: Donn’s first wife, Louise, Bret Harte, a 19th-century writer, and John James Piatt, Donn’s second cousin and his wife Sarah, both poets. The ornate designs originally painted on the ceilings throughout the castle remain. Explore »»The perfect time (and place) to learn about the life of famous sharpshooter Annie OakleyĪs visitors enter on the first floor an iron lamp shaped like a medieval pageboy illuminates a staircase that climbs to the second floor lined by varying shades of wood paneling. Two towers flank the structure, which is inspired by Flemish design with stepped gables, and inside are 32 rooms.

Smithmeyer, the architect who designed the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., designed the 8,000 square-foot home, Piatt said. “Donn and Ella could have lived anywhere but they chose to come back here partly to be around family and partly because of the setting. “The home is about art and inspiration,” Piatt said.

It was invented.’ I never forgot that line,” Piatt said. Margaret Piatt recalls giving a tour to a friend who worked as a set and exhibit designer: “He looked at it with me and said, ‘Nobody designed this building. Explore »✺ wacky tradition that has stuck literally - with famous little sandwich shop for 80 yearsĪ chandelier illuminates the oak and walnut raised panels surrounding the dining room and parquet floors shine, but in the library, where wine-colored fabric covers the walls, quirky wooden points have been cut around the door frames and wood trim.

A five-story tower stands over the rest.Ī combination of rich styling and odd design decorate the rooms. The castle is three stories with a wide open top floor where Abram Piatt hosted Grange meetings. The exterior is made from limestone blocks cut two-feet thick and inside, the ceilings reach 14 feet. Mac-A-Cheek, “built as a farmhouse with a little bit of class,” is a 25-room chateau surrounded by oak, elm, locust and walnut trees.
