SEELY CASTLE - OVERLOOK CASTLE

I received E-Mail that said:

Seely castle is located in Ashville, NC on Town Mountain Rd. It is Privately owned and lived in by the owners. Have not seen inside but understand that the are about 2000 sq ft of stained glass windows in it.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

Dear Castle finder, my name is Greg Crawford and I have some information on Seely castle in Asheville N.C.. The Castle is located on Town Mountain And overlooks Interstate 240. You can see it if you are heading west towards Asheville just before the cut where the highway passes through the mnt. on your right. It was built around 1912 and is a perfect replica of an English castle. Fred Seely, the son in law of E.W. Grove (he built the Grove Park Inn) built the castle after his father in law gave him ten acres on top of overlook mountain.

The castle is surrounded by a Large and imposing fence so the owners probably enjoy their privacy. At one point it was the location of a school, Biltmore college, and it has been rumored that a cult lived there for a time.( I don't Know if that is true). A friend of mine has recently been inside, an Englishman, and he say's that it is a very authentic replica of an English Castle.

The castle is now known as overlook castle and is full of stained glass windows and once had wooden doors that depicted the 12 Canterbury tales. The doors were taken from the castle in the 60's. There are also beautiful Jacobean ceilings. The castle is situated on the top of the mountain and is surrounded by English gardens.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

The castle is currently owned and lived in by a religious order and no visitors are allowed thru the gates. Up until about 12 or 13 years ago it was owned by Jerry Sternberg of Asheville. He and his family lived there and my sister was a friend of the family and we played in the castle frequently as children.

There is a hidden room in the north tower; inside there is a fireplace, outside there is a window on the second floor; we never found access to this room, even though we spent a lot of time playing in the hidden passage ways.

I also knew and went to school with Kent Seely (now a dentist in Asheville); his grandfather built the structure .... the Seelys no longer owned the castle when I knew Kent, but he is very knowledgable of the place.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

Here is some info about Seely Castle in North Carolina. I visited it on a Sunday in the middle 1980's when church services were being held there. The owners wrote a book about their castle ministry called "A Castle in the Kingdom." At that time it was for sale for about $400,000 and was later bought, according to one rumor, by some Bonworth executives for a retreat. It was designed to look like an ancient ruin, which is why you can see blue sky through the top tower windows in your photo of it. I remember the big library, which was empty at that time, and a kitchen at the end of a downward corridor.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

I live in Asheville and have heard some things about the castle. Someone told me the castle used to be run by the leader of the Satanic order. Apparently services have been held there but now they are not. Also, someone told me that the castle was brought over from Scotland stone by stone. The Biltmore was built by importing hundreds of European craftsman. This seems to be typical of the area in that time.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

My cousin used to own the castle in the early 80s. He was the leader of "Overlook Christian Ministries" mentioned in one of your earlier emails. I stayed there a few times and enjoyed the secret passageways and rooms.

They don't show up in your picture, but near ground level on the central tower are three cross shaped windows. My sister and I spent a futile afternoon trying to find the entry to the room behind those windows. On a later trip I tried again, to no avail. On my last trip, 1979 or 80, I took my neice and nephew. My young cousin Nicky asked the kids if they would like to see his model train. Of course they said yes. He led them into the hall, opened a closet door, then revealed a hidden door at the back of the closet. We descended on a short staircase into the room with the cross windows, the mystery at last revealed.

The library mentioned on your site is one of the highlights of the castle and I hope the new owners have restored it to its original dignity. Two stories of bookshelves with a balcony lined three walls. The other wall was made of glass and looked out over Asheville. Most amazing, the wall rolls up into the ceiling, rather like a garage door and the room opens to the vista and breezes of the moutains. I loved sitting on the outer porch of the library while pondering the secrets and history of the place.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

In 1977 my husband and I moved into the Seely Castle to work with the ministry that was there. It was called Overlook Christian Ministries. I have a lot of pictures taken there and a brochure that Mrs Seely had made when she had the castle for sale. My husband and I lived there for about a year and a half.

Regarding the secret room behind the fireplace in the library - while we were there, one of the men climbed up the outside of the castle to the window that would be behind the fireplace. There was indeed a room there but he could see nothing but a tremendous amount of soot. The back of the fireplace had a solid brick wall, so if it ever did open up, there was no evidence of it.

I was interested in the e mails you received some of which are true but some things people wrote about were not. Especially the thing about the "wall of glass" in the library. Since the person that told you about it supposedly saw it, I sort of wonder. I remember "Nicky." He and his parents (Vic and Pat Cassie) lived there when my husband and I were there. Vic is the one that wrote the book "A Castle in the Kingdom" But the "wall of glass" was a window that opened from side to side like a folding door. You can see it the picture you have on the site now on the left just above the "tunel." It is partly opened.

I also wonder about the "Satan worship." The ministry we were a part of there was a full gospel ministry and people that are not knowledgable about speaking in tongues etc. sometimes misinterpret it. I am sending two pictures with this e mail. One is of the two lions that are on each side of the tunnel ( you can see the "wall of glass" window above it. The window is half open). These are the lions that were at the court house in Atlanta when Shermans army marched thru there in the civil war.

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A special thanks to Jackie McCune for sending a great deal of information about this castle.