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 following a divorce at the age of 23. Living in a townhouse rental, with five other guys, was not the best situation.
"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, I knew my 3-year-old son would likely never 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 picture was being painted. Within a matter of weeks, the most spectacular view in the world was uncovered. 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 specific 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 in 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.
"Jason, I promised that I would build you a castle; I didn't say you wouldn't be helping me!"... So, when Jason was a teenager, he 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. (Jason was an impressive stonemason who went on to earn an Architectural Engineering Degree at Penn State and is now raising two children with his wife, Mary).
The stonework was a slow, tedious process, and laying up a thousand tons of local granite would take decades. Over the past 42 years, the property would evolve into what it is today... a series of three castles where families & friends from all over the world gather to create their special memories.
We 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 A. Lavender II and Yvonne Lavender,
owners of Highlands Castle in Bolton Landing, NY
Highlands Castle was born from a promise to my young son in 1978.
"Someday I'll build you a castle". 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.
I met Yvonne, the woman who 'turned a pile of rocks into a home'.
Six years later, my parents officiated our wedding ceremony on July 19th, 1992. Mom & Dad would perform other family ceremonies over the years. My sister Carol was married here in 2002, and my son Jason in 2008.
My son, Jason, surprised me on my 50th birthday during a gathering of family & friends in 2004 by playing this compilation video he produced.
I was moved by his creativity and time devoted to make this mini-doc that shows various stages from 'pre-construction to occupancy' and choreographed to Neil Young's Dreamin' Man. I'm glad the lights were off.
I'm forever grateful for the friends and artisans who dropped by for several months and even years at a time to help fulfill a dream and a promise. Stone Masons: Jason Lavender, Tony Aurilio, 'Shen' football guys, Paul Wilson, Eugene Baker, Steve Baker, Bob Urtz, Roque Aguero. Custom Millwork Carpenters: Scott McClenahan and Scott Volk. Faux Painting Artist: Cynthia Charles
'Our Story' continued... 'Ex Malo Bonum.' Out of bad comes good.
Oftentimes, good things come out of bad experiences. In 2010, we began sharing our home with others. This was the good that came out of the bad. Two years earlier, a fall from the roof resulted in a shattered right ankle and 4-operations. I would spend over 8 months in a wheelchair and on crutches before I could begin taking a few steps again. What emerged from a serious accident was an awareness of how fragile, or how short, life can be. It was time to reinvent myself and start a new chapter... One I was grateful to be given.
"If you build it, they will come" was a significant line in one of my favorite movies 'Field of Dreams'. My son volunteered to build a website in 2010... And so they did! Although I never had any plan or intention to rent our home, doing so has given me an opportunity to meet some wonderful and interesting people from all over the world who would share personal stories of how and why they were drawn to travel here. Tales that would make you smile, stories that were so heartwarming, while some were actually heartbreaking. Countless visitors would find what they were searching for... Sharing time and creating memories with their loved ones. Many would find peace and relaxation here; others would take time to rejuvenate or heal. And I would find something, too... A sense of purpose.
When I think back to my words, "Someday I will build you a castle", there was always a plan and a purpose. I believe it wasn't just my plan.
When I was young, I thought I could face any situation that might arise... all by myself. In 1979, I was shown what it means to replace confidence with humility,
which depends not on itself. I'm humbled to be a part of 'Our Story', the dreamer in the guiding force of 'His Story'. All things are possible through Him. JALII
Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Haggai 1:8
"When those dreams you're dreaming come to you, when the work you put in is realized...always stay humble and kind." Lori McKenna
"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you dream it, you can make it so." Belva Davis
Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise. (Be kind to everyone. Always.)
In a world where you can be anything you want, be kind.
The White Stag Deer is a symbol of wisdom, purity, growth, regeneration, virility, and solitude. Because its antlers resemble branches, the Stag has been associated with the 'Tree of Life' and because of the way it renews its antlers, it is used as a symbol of regeneration. Heraldic writers say of the Stag: "One who will not fight unless provoked, a lover of music and harmony who well foresees his times and opportunities".
Highlands Castle is a unique, one-of-a-kind,
private estate that is available to rent.
Poised on a graceful mountainside
overlooking majestic Lake George,
a castle awaits you...
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