Atalaya Castle, Pt. 1

Welcome Back!

This time I'm starting to highlight the photos I took of the Atalaya Castle, which is found at the Huntington Beach State Park site. There was a small admission fee and pets were not allowed, so Daddy and Zeek stayed in the car..it was a warm one that day too! Keturah and I toured it and took lots of photos. It reminds me of Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands. It is now used for festivals, weddings and corporate events.

Here's the description from Wikipedia:

Atalaya Castle, also known as Atalaya, was the winter home of industrialist and philanthropist Archer M. Huntington and his wife, the sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, located near the Atlantic coast in Murrells Inlet, Georgetown County, South Carolina.

Archer Huntington was a noted scholar of Spanish culture and art, and designed the residence in the Moorish Revival and Mediterranean Revival architecture styles from Spanish Andalusian coast models.

Atalaya (AH-tuh-lie-yuh) means "watchtower" in Spanish. The house is dominated by a square tower, which housed a 3,000 gallon water tank.^[3] Rising nearly 40 feet (12 m) from a covered walkway, it bisects Atalaya's inner court. The inner walls of the main courtyard were covered with creeping fig vines, Sabal palmettos, the South Carolina state tree, and other palms.
The living quarters consist of 30 rooms around three sides of the perimeter, while the studio, with its 25 foot (8 m) skylight, opens onto a small, enclosed courtyard where Anna Hyatt Huntington worked on her sculptures. Pens for animal models, including horses, dogs and bears, are situated adjacent to the open studio. The building also features hand-wrought iron grills designed by Mrs. Huntington, which cover the exteriors of windows. These and shutters were installed for protection against hurricane winds.^[3]

During World War II the Huntingtons vacated Atalaya and provided it to the Army Air Corps for use from 1942-1946.
The Huntingtons last used Atalaya as their winter home in 1947. Most of the furnishings were sent to New York City after Mr. Huntington's death in 1955. The studio equipment was moved to a new studio at Brookgreen Gardens just across U.S. Route 17, which cut through the Huntingtons' former contiguous property.

I'll have more photos of this historical site over the coming weeks!

Well, it's Friday already! We picked  Brooke up at the University on Wednesday. We had an awesome drive both ways..busy, but no stop-n-go traffic through Toronto, which is very odd! :-) We were even home in time for supper! She's been busy unpacking and we managed to do a bit of shopping yesterday.

Nothing planned for the weekend..except Brooke and a friend are going to Ottawa to visit their other friend who goes to University there. Soon, they'll all be home and hanging out together!

Enjoy your weekend!