Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage

Last updated
Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage
BerkeleyCastle WestVirginia.jpg
Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia Location Map.svg
Red pog.svg
Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage
USA West Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage
Location276 Cacapon Road, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Coordinates 39°37′38″N78°13′49″W / 39.62722°N 78.23028°W / 39.62722; -78.23028
Built1885
Architect Mullett, A.B. and Ashford, Snowden
Architectural styleLate Victorian
NRHP reference No. 80004035
Added to NRHPNovember 28, 1980 [1]

The Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage, also known as the Berkeley Castle or Berkeley Springs Castle, is located on a hill above Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, United States.

Contents

History

The castle-like house was built for Colonel Samuel Taylor Suit of Washington, D.C. as a personal retreat near the spa town, beginning in 1885. It was not complete by the time of his death in 1888 and was finished in the early 1890s for his young widow, Rosa Pelham Suit, whom Suit had first met at Berkeley Springs, and their three children. [2] The post 1888 work is of noticeably inferior quality. [3]

The fifteen-room interior features a ballroom 50 feet (15.2 m) wide and 40 ft (12.2 m) long. The design is attributed to Washington architect Alfred B. Mullett, who is alleged to have drawn a rough sketch of the plan on a tablecloth at the Berkeley Springs Hotel. The design may have been based on elements of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. [4] Detailed design and construction supervision was carried out by Snowden Ashford, who designed Washington's Eastern Market, apprenticed for Mullett and is also credited as an architect. [5] Mrs. Suit entertained lavishly at the house until her money ran out and the property was sold in 1913. [3]

Purchase by the VDare Foundation

In February 2020, the property was purchased by the VDARE Foundation, a tax-exempt affiliate of anti-immigration organization VDARE, which publishes writings by white nationalists. [6]

The purchase was met with resistance from residents and leaders in Berkeley Springs. [7] [8]

VDARE founder and editor Peter Brimelow stated "We absolutely will not be having rallies, marches or demonstrations. We've never been involved in anything like that, and we never will be," and "We just want to be quiet, good neighbors. "The only public events we're anticipating right now are the local charitable functions that we understand the castle has traditionally hosted. We hope to have some private meetings and functions, but don't have plans for any public VDARE events." [9] VDARE purchased the house for $1.4 million and the source of the money is unknown. [10]

Berkeley Springs, including the Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage, inspired a location in the online multiplayer game Fallout 76 . [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Greenbrier</span> Resort hotel in West Virginia

The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States.

VDARE is an American far-right website promoting opposition to immigration to the United States. It is associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, and the alt-right. Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia describes VDARE as "one of the most prolific anti-immigration media outlets in the United States" and states that it is "broadly concerned with race issues in the United States". Established in 1999, the website's editor is Peter Brimelow, who once stated that "whites built American culture" and that "it is at risk from non-whites who would seek to change it".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inman Park</span> Historic district on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Inman Park is an intown neighborhood on the east side of Atlanta, Georgia, and its first planned suburb. It was named for Samuel M. Inman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wayside</span> Historic house in Concord, Massachusetts, US

The Wayside is a historic house in Concord, Massachusetts. The earliest part of the home may date to 1717. Later it successively became the home of the young Louisa May Alcott and her family, who named it Hillside, author Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family, and children's writer Margaret Sidney. It became the first site with literary associations acquired by the National Park Service and is now open to the public as part of Minute Man National Historical Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley Springs State Park</span> Thermal springs and state park in Morgan County, West Virginia

Berkeley Springs State Park is situated in the center of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, USA. The centerpiece of the Park is its historic mineral spa. These waters were celebrated for their medicinal or restorative powers and were generally taken internally for digestive disorders, or bathed in for stress relief. Native peoples visited these springs as did George Washington. Berkeley Springs is the only state-run spa in the United States and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Washington</span> American politician (1734–1781)

Samuel Washington was an American planter, politician and military officer best known for being the younger brother of the first president of the United States, George Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">America's Most Endangered Places</span> List by the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation

America's 11 Most Endangered Places or America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve examples of architectural and cultural heritage that could be "relegated to the dustbins of history" without intervention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owlpen</span> Human settlement in England

Owlpen is a small village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, set in a valley in the Cotswold hills. It is about one mile (1.6 km) east of Uley, and three miles (4.8 km) east of Dursley. The Owlpen valley is set around the settlement like an amphitheatre of wooded hills open to the west. The landscape falls within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so designated in 1966. The population of the parish in mid-2010 was 29 (est.), the smallest in Gloucestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pence Springs, West Virginia</span> Unincorporated community in West Virginia, United States

Pence Springs is an unincorporated community in Summers County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along the Greenbrier River to the east of the city of Hinton, the county seat of Summers County. Its elevation is 1,539 feet, and it is located at 37°40′41″N80°43′30″W. It had a post office with the ZIP code 24962 until it was closed in October 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannondale Springs</span> United States historic place

Shannondale Springs is a former American resort associated with mineral springs on the bank of the Shenandoah River upstream from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The water from the main spring was reputed to have mild laxative qualities, while other springs had a sulfurous odor. The resort began in 1820 with the construction of 10 to 12 wood cottages, and a two-story hotel was added the next year. The hotel and some of the cottages burned in 1858. After the Civil War several new brick cottages were built and a new hotel was built on the site of the old in 1890. This hotel burned in 1909 and was never rebuilt. The cottages and accessory structures lasted another thirty years before becoming uninhabitable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson-Todd House</span> Historic house in West Virginia, United States

The Gibson-Todd House was the site of the hanging of John Brown, the abolitionist who led a raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia before the opening of the American Civil War. The property is located in Charles Town, West Virginia, and includes a large Victorian style house built in 1891.

Samuel Taylor Suit (1832–1888) was a Maryland politician and landowner. Suit was born in Bladensburg, Maryland, the son of innkeeper Fielder Suit. At age 14, he left home and traveled first to Keokuk, Iowa, and then to Louisville, Kentucky. In Kentucky, Suit became involved in distilling whiskey, eventually owning a distillery and making his fortune. During this time, he became an honorary Kentucky colonel and was known as Colonel Suit from that time onward. While in Kentucky, he married his first wife, Sarah Ebenezer Williams, who died in childbirth at age 19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Custom House (Charleston, South Carolina)</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Custom House or U.S. Customhouse is the custom house in Charleston, South Carolina. Construction began in 1852, but was interrupted in 1859 due to costs and the possibility of South Carolina's secession from the Union. After the Civil War, construction was restarted in 1870 and completed in 1879. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974. It is also a contributing property of the Charleston Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring Hill Cemetery Historic District</span> Historic district in West Virginia, United States

Spring Hill Cemetery Historic District is a national historic district located at Charleston, West Virginia, United States. The district is a 172-acre (70 ha) site located on a series of tree shaded and landscaped hills overlooking central Charleston and includes the following cemeteries: Spring Hill Cemetery, Mountain View Cemetery, B'nai Israel Cemetery, Lowenstein Cemetery, and Mount Olivet Cemetery. It is West Virginia's largest cemetery complex. The district features Spring Hill Mausoleum, a stone faced reinforced concrete structure constructed in 1910. Notable graves throughout the cemetery include the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medway (Mount Holly, South Carolina)</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

Medway or the Medway Plantation is a plantation in Mount Holly, South Carolina within Berkeley County, South Carolina. It is about 2 mi (3.2 km) east of U.S. Route 52 from the unincorporated community of Mount Holly, which is directly north of Goose Creek, South Carolina. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Springs Resort</span> United States historic place

Sweet Springs Resort and spa was founded in Sweet Springs, West Virginia, United States in 1792. Once known as Old Sweet Springs, this historic resort hotel is currently undergoing renovation by the nonprofit Sweet Springs Resort Park Foundation. The property enjoys notoriety for its natural hot spring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowden Ashford</span> American architect

Snowden Ashford (1866–1927) was an American architect who worked in Washington, D.C., his native city. Born on January 1, 1866, Ashford was educated at Rittenhouse Academy and at the Christian Brothers Roman Catholic school. He studied architecture at Lafayette College and, upon graduation, entered the office of Alfred B. Mullett, who had formerly been supervising architect of the United States Treasury. Ashford entered the District service in 1895 and became Washington's first municipal architect. The Washington Post characterized him as "Architect of the Everyday", and noted: "Ashford designed or supervised everything the District built between 1895 and 1921, including the North Hall at the Eastern Market. But he was most proud of his schools."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Clarence Yard</span> Victualling yard for the Royal Navy

Royal Clarence Yard in Gosport, Hampshire, England was established in 1828 as one of the Royal Navy's two principal, purpose-built, provincial victualling establishments. It was designed by George Ledwell Taylor, Civil Architect to the Navy Board and named after the then Duke of Clarence. The new victualling yard was developed on approximately 20 hectares of land, some of which was already in use as a brewing establishment at Weevil on the west shore of Portsmouth Harbour, to the north of Gosport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Hotels of America</span> National Trust for Historic Preservation program

Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. Mozier, Jeanne (2016). The Story of Berkeley Castle: What's True and What's Not. Berkeley Springs, WV: High Street Press. p. 2. ISBN   978-0989801829.
  3. 1 2 Rodney S. Collins (July 10, 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage" (PDF). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Colonel Suit". History. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  5. Sullian, Jack (Spring 2005). "The Life and Loves of S.T. Suit: A Jug-Filler's Story" (PDF). Bottles and Extras. Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors. pp. 66–69. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  6. A "hate castle" or welcome neighbor? VDare divides a West Virginia town.
  7. Olding, Rachel (May 29, 2020). "Tourist Town Desperate to Reopen Faces Another Battle—White Nationalists in the Castle". The Daily Beast. New York City. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  8. Conroy, Sean (March 20, 2020). "LETTER: How could a white nationalist group buy Berkeley Castle?". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Charleston, W.Va. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  9. Vincent, Jenni (25 February 2020). "Foundation focused on immigration buys Berkeley Springs castle for $1.4M". Herald Mail Media. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  10. "West Virginia Tourist Hub Rejects VDARE's "Negative" Message". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  11. "Bucket List, Fallout 76 Quest". guides4gamers.com. Retrieved 2020-04-07.