George C Boldt made his millions managing the Stratford-Hilton in Philadelphia and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. He bought the island named Hart Island. He renamed it "Heart Island" and began his plans. He added to the island, so it ended up with a heart shape. Then he hired more than 300 craftsmen from Europe to build his vision -- a tribute to his love for his wife, Louise. He wanted to build a replica of a Rhine castle on the island. It would be six stories high and have 120 rooms. Work progressed from 1900-1904, and $2.5 million had been spent. But Louise died suddenly, and George gave the order that all work should stop. Boldt died in the 1920s, leaving an estate worth over $20 million. His sons did not continue the work on Boldt Castle. Eventually, all the Boldt 1000 Islands property was sold to the man who invented the Life Saver. The new owner began offering tours of the buildings. Eventually, the island was sold to The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority for $1. But from the time that construction stopped in 1904 until it was sold to the Bridge Authority in 1977, the property had not been maintained or protected. Vandals had broken many of the windows, carved into the plaster, and stolen many artifacts out of the buildings. The Bridge Authority began by repairing the roof and exterior walls. They had to rebuild parts of some of the outlying buildings. Restoration continues. The work that has been done is very impressive. Much of the first floor of the main building has been restored. Almost all of the property is accessible to the public. I highly recommend that you see it if you are in the area. (Boldt Castle and Heart Island are very close to Alexandria Bay, NY.) There is a very interesting film that is shown in one of the rooms on the first floor which gives the history of the Boldt family and of Boldt Castle.
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