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 following a divorce at the age of twenty-three while living in 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, 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.
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
Hosts/owners of Highlands Castle
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