I received E-Mail that said:
Location: 1 Singles Road, Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Description: Stone house in the gothic style with three-story tower, built in 1871 by Sylvester Beckett, who was a Portland publisher, attorney and poet. A passage from one of his poems, "Hester, the Bride of the Islands," reads:
If the soul dieth, if our years
On earth, of discord, joys, and tears,
Be all of life, then life is vain,
And Heaven's great work imperfect!
No! Death is but a second birth--
And man, immortal, oft returns.
Beckett died in 1882 and it is said that his ghost has haunted his castle ever since.
When I lived in Maine in the 70s and 80s, I visited Beckett's Castle with an acquaintance who knew the family occupying the house at the time. It is my understanding that the house is now vacant. I could not find a photo of this castle on the internet, but it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
On 1-11-10, I received e-mail that said:
My Dad drove past the castle (it's about 15 minutes from his house). It's address is actually 7 Singles Road and said it doesn't appear to be occupied at this time. It was purchased in 1892 from Walter Single by Nancy P. Harvery and was purchased from Nancy Harvey and David Perkins in 1997 by Pier Properties Incorporated. I got this information right from www.mainelandrecords.com and by calling the Tax Assessor in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Does anyone have more information about it?
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Photo courtesy of Jeff Kinder.