Gillette Castle State Park

Photo: License: Public Domain

Gillette Castle State Park straddles the towns of East Haddam and Lyme. The castle was originally a private residence commissioned and designed by William Gillette, an American actor who is most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage.

The park is located at 67 River Road in East Haddam and consists of the castle and its grounds. It receives 300,000 annual visitors.

It reopened in 2002 after four years of restoration costing 11 million dollars.

It now includes a museum, hiking trails, and a picnic area.

William Gillette's "castle", called Seventh Sister, was built in 1919 on a 184-acre (74 ha) tract at the top of the southernmost of a chain of hills known as the Seven Sisters. Gillette died having no children, and his will precluded the possession of his home by any "blithering sap-head who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded".

The State of Connecticut took over the property in 1943, renaming it Gillette Castle State Park. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.