Hello.
Knapp's Castle was built by Union Carbide founder George Owen Knapp.
Knapp purchased the land in 1916, and the "castle" was built over the
course of four years. There were seven buildings, all made from
sandstone blocks. The main house include five bedrooms, a large
hallway, a dining room, an observatory, and a room especially designed
for a pipe organ. The structure was destroyed by a wildfire in 1940.
See:
"In 1916 a wealthy industrialist from Union Carbide named George Owen
Knapp purchased the homestead as a site for a mountain retreat to
compliment his 100 acre estate in Montecito. George Knapp and his
wife were engaged in numerous charitable pursuits and over the years
donated many thousands of dollars to local religious, educational, and
medical projects. Knapp employed Italian stonemasons to lay down
native cold water sandstone to form the foundations, walls, and
fireplaces of the retreat. The lodge, some four years in the
building, was a massive structure nearly 100 feet long. It was
furnished with all of the conveniences of the age including a pipe
organ. There were some other buildings including a studio, cottage,
staff dormitory, and a superintendent's house. Water was pumped from
several waterfalls near the eastern side of the property to a
reservoir just above the lodge.
In 1940 the property was sold to Frances Holden who invited her good
friend, world famous opera singer Lotte Lehmann, to move in...
...Just five short weeks after moving into the lodge, a raging forest
fire cut through the property destroying all of the buildings. The
massive stone foundations, fireplace pillars, and walls still remain
in ruins as a reminder to this page of Santa Barbara history."
source:
Kerry Mormann & Associates
http://www.land-ranch.com/160knapp/Main.htm
Also see:
"KNAPP?S CASTLE
On April 9, 1916, George Owen Knapp purchased a 160-acre tract east of
the Laurel Springs Ranch, wanting, in his words, ?to make the tract a
private mountain lodge that in natural beauty and grandeur will have
few to equal it on the American continent.? If the structure itself
was anything like the view, it must have been awe-inspiring.
There were seven buildings in all, carved from thick sandstone
blocks. The main house had five bedrooms, a large hallway, dining
room, observatory, and a room especially designed for Knapp?s pride
and joy, a pipe organ. Over 20 men were employed during the
construction of the lodge, which took more than four years. In
addition to the main house, there was a studio next to it, a workman?s
cottage below, a dormitory which housed six servants, and a
superintendent?s house in the hollow where the lower road forks away
from the path leading up to the lodge. "
http://www.lpforest.org/Trails/index3.php/?ID=51
There are two historical photos of how Knapp's Castle looked when it
was completed at Kerry Mormann & Associates' land-ranch.com:
http://www.land-ranch.com/160knapp/13.htm
http://www.land-ranch.com/160knapp/14.htm
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search strategy:
"knapp's castle"
"george owen knapp"
I hope this helps. |
