The story of Brookgreen Gardens (which I've discussed in previous posts a few years ago) and Atalaya Castle begins in the very early 1930s -- in the throes of the Great Depression -- with the wealthy Archer Huntington, a premier Hispanic scholar of his time, as well as a poet, industrialist and philanthropist.
He purchased an estate of 9,000 acres in South Carolina so that he and his wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington, a sculptor, would have a winter home in a warm climate where she could regain strength and recover from tuberculosis. Both Huntingtons were from New England.
First, he designed the rectangular-shaped Atalaya (it means "watchtower" in Spanish) in Spanish Moor architecture on land close to the ocean. He had it built with the couple's bedroom facing the ocean in the northeast corner of the one-level brick structure, with an exterior reinforced with concrete. At the time, they had a wide-open view of the water; but today, so much vegetation has grown between the castle and water that there no longer is a direct ocean view.
Anna herself designed the wrought-iron grills for the home's windows; the grills helped protect the structure in hurricanes. The building's 30 rooms were laid out on three of the four sides that bordered a courtyard inside of which was erected a 40-foot water tower.
The fourth (westernmost) side was reserved for Anna's studio and enclosures for bears, horses, monkeys and leopard, which they kept on the premises.
In 1932, Archer donated a large chunk of his property west of the homestead for the development of Brookgreen Gardens, integrating the antebellum Brookgreen Plantation into a park to be used to collect, exhibit and preserve American figurative sculpture as well as plants and animals of the Southeast. Today, it is maintained as a preeminent outdoor sculpture garden and one of the finest museums of its type anywhere. Many of Anna's sculptures can be found on the grounds, and many of those sculptures are accompanied by Archer's poetic verses.
The Huntingtons didn't use Atalaya for very long; they vacated it from 1942-46 to allow the U.S. Army Air Corps to use it during World War II. The couple returned in 1947 but because by then Anna had fully recovered from her tuberculosis, they stayed only briefly, leaving it for good to return to the Northeast.
Archer died in 1955 at age 85; Anna died in 1973 at age 97. After her death, the 2,500-acre Atalaya proper was leased to the state of South Carolina in 1960 to use as a state park. Today, it is known as Huntington Beach State Park.
The castle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984; the castle, Brookgreen Gardens and sculpture garden were designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1992. The Friends of Huntington Beach State Park offered guided tours of the castle and operate its visitors center at the main entrance, which is on the west side of the structure. An arts and crafts festival is held there each September.
Today, the castle and state park go hand in hand because the former is on the grounds of the latter. So to tour the castle, you must first pay an $8 per adult park admission fee to the park, then another $2 per adult to walk through the castle. You can take guided tours or use headphones (and pay extra) to listen to a wireless tour as you walk through.
Above: The entrance to Atalaya today, which on the west side of the building.
Beyond the entrance is an open area -- once believed use to house animals -- and now includes the visitors center (above) and a gathering area (below).
You can see the bricks on the interior portion of the structure (above), and Anna's window grill design in one of the windows as seen from the outdoor courtyard (below).
No comments:
Post a Comment