Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Castle - Ely, MN

My apologies for such a long interval between updates. I'm finding it hard to regularly update 2 blogs -though this one gets many more views and comments! I have a stockpile of stuff to add, so if you can stand the wait please check back periodically. This post shows some photos of one of the most interesting buildings I've seen in the past few years. On a trip to Ely, Minnesota last fall we couldn't help but run into this massive, castle-looking building at on the corner of Camp St. and 2nd Avenue. The 4 & 1/2 story turret is hard to miss as you're driving up the hillside just 1 or 2 blocks of the main street. The yellowed and ornate brickwork immediately tell you something of it's age but it's impressive architecture is not like anything you typically see in Minnesota. This place is truly a "castle" with multiple dormers and bay windows making up complex shapes especially along it's roof line. Though there must have been nearly 30 windows on the one side, we couldn't see one that was not broken out or boarded up. As I took pictures in awe, I noticed the roof seemed in fairly decent shape and likely redone recently. Also some of the protruding window sections and also the top level of the turret had been resurfaced in a "stucco" like method. There were for-sale signs on the long side -and even they were busted up, telling me that the place has likely been for sale for a long time already. Upon driving around to the back side, we could see a bit more restoration had been started, including white paint over the yellow bricks. Upon returning home and looking the place up online, I found it had been built in 1903 to serve as a Hospital. I would have loved to walk around inside and/or seen pictures of what it used to look like inside. The building is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and it is easy to see why even without knowing much more about it. If you'd like to own it, just visit this website! http://www.elywildwoods.com/component/hotproperty/?view=property&id=222