Castle on the Hudson

About this series "New York Living- Nature & Countryside":
We often feel fortunate to live in Manhattan-- get to enjoy its rich cultural life and, with a short drive, beautiful nature. This series shares the nature and countryside near Manhattan that we like to visit/do outdoor sports.

Gourmet @ Castle
NYC living seems to have endless pleasant surprises. Previous posts shared beautiful nature at surprisingly close distances. This post is also about a surprise and delightful find, Castle on the Hudson.

The Castle is perched on a hill in Westchester County, surrounded by gardens and woods, with views of the Hudson river. The medieval Castle was built by the Carroll's family in 1897 and 1910 for private residency and entertaining. It borrowed design of Norman fortification in Wales and Scotland in the UK and Ireland. After 1940, the Castle was rented to a boarding school, later was bought by an investment firm as its headquarter office. Now, the Castle is a small luxury hotel, serene and romantic.

We stumbled onto it while researching for wedding venue a few years ago. A Castle wedding probably is very appealing to many girls. K and I love to visit traditional architecture on leisure trips, but for things directly relating to ourselves, like our home decor and clothing/accessories, we prefer modern and clean-lined design. I got my wedding gown from Vera Wang, not to follow her fame, more because she had a modern and clean lined piece that I liked. Also I requested cutting off the long trail of the gown to be less traditional. A traditional castle was not a top choice for our wedding, but it turned out to be a very satisfied and happy choice.

For our own wedding, we prefer small and simple, but have special requirements for the venue and food. We'd like to have the civil ceremony, cocktail and reception at one place and with outdoor space, and food must be excellent and beautiful. There are many gourmet restaurants and event venues in Manhattan, but often our small wedding (28 guests) did not meet their minimum, and few has outdoor space. The Castle, other than architectural style, met all our preferences. And it accepts small weddings. Its Equus restaurant also receives great reviews. After two satisfying meals at Equus, we decided to have wedding at the Castle.

The slideshow shares the Castle's scenery and gourmet creations (from our wedding and one of our anniversary dinners.)