Our Story...
*A 'Defining Moment': A point in your life when you are urged to make a pivotal decision or experience something that fundamentally changes you. Not only do these moments define us, but they have a transformative effect on our perceptions and behaviors.
*My 'moment' would stem from a divorce at 23, while sharing a townhouse rental with five other guys.
Highlands Castle was born from a father's promise to his young son...
"Jason, this is not our home... this is temporary. Someday I'll build a home for the two of us. Someday I'll build you a castle".
Looking back to 1978, did I think my 3-year-old son remember these words? The promise had more to do with a desire to build a better life than an actual castle.
It would be almost 5 years before the ideal property presented itself, a mountaintop in Bolton Landing, NY.
While clearing the land for the foundation, a surprise picture was being painted with a chain saw. Within a matter of weeks, I uncovered the most spectacular views of Lake George and the Adirondack Mountains. It seemed as though this majestic vista had been waiting to be unveiled. Was it simply luck or something much greater that I would be the one to settle here? I believe that I was led to this spot.
Throughout my life, I have felt 'evidence of things not seen'. I hope you recognize each one of yours.
Once the foundation was completed, the wood framing construction was to the roof within a few months, and the structure began to find its outward appearance. Finally, I graduated from my tent to a mattress-on-the-floor of what was essentially a large plywood box at the time... but I was happy to be sleeping in my own house.
About a decade into construction, I told my son, "I promised that I would build you a castle; I didn't say you wouldn't be helping me! " and Jason, now a teenage, joined in the stonework. Naturally resourceful, he recruited his High School football teammates to lend some muscle over the summer months. Their daily mantra was "Let's rock!" and they took great pride in their accomplishments while working together again as a team.
The stonework was a slow and tedious process, and laying up a thousand tons of local granite with a handful of masons would take decades. Over the past 43 years, the property has evolved into what it is today, a series of three castles where Families & Friends from all over the world gather to create their Special Memories.
I hope you'll share our story with your family & friends, and that you'll have an opportunity to visit us one day!
Kind Regards,
John
John & Yvonne Lavender
Hosts/owners of Highlands Castle
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