Hearthstone Castle is significant as late nineteenth-century country estate centered on an architect's interpretation of a medieval castle.
Hearthstone Castle and its related Shingle-style outbuildings, which include a caretaker's cottage, carriage house, water tower, pump-house and sheds, were constructed as a summer estate between 1895 and 1899 for Elias Starr Sanford and his wife, Emma.
Sanford, a Danbury native, achieved success and a national reputation as a society portrait photographer in New York City as a partner in the firm of Davis & Sanford.
Following the dissolution of the firm in the early twentieth century, Sanford conducted studios in New Haven, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Greenwich and Texas.
In 1895, at the height of his success, Sanford purchased eighteen acres of woodland at "Mountain End," a rocky promontory that overlooks the southern part of the city of Danbury.
Two acres were cleared, but the property was left ungraded except in the immediate vicinity of the building.
Construction of the castle commenced in the fall of 1895 and was completed in June 1899.
Stone for the castle was quarried on the property and at Collins  quarry to the south on Brushy Hill Road, and was transported to the construction site by means of a narrow-gauge railroad.

The castle's architect was Ernest G. W. Dietrich of New York.
A Danbury Evening News article of October 7, 1895, outlines his initial plan for the castle as a seventeen-room, 80 ft × 100 ft building, with its upper story of wood.
The same article mentions a 38 ft × 48 ft barn to be constructed with architectural features "corresponding to those of the house," and makes no mention of any other outbuildings.
That plans were changed during the course of construction is confirmed by the building of the second story of the castle in stone, with a memorial stone bearing the date "1897" set in the middle of the west elevation, and by the fact that the dimensions of both the castle and the present carriage house are smaller than those stated in the article.
A mechanics' lien filed in the Danbury land records by Charles Crossley, a local architect and builder, cites "services rendered" between May, 1897, and June, 1899.
 However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that Crossley or a second architect contributed to the castle's design.
Moreover, Dietrich is known to have worked in the Shingle style of the outbuildings, and is noted for his residential architecture.
Among his commissions is the Luther Turner House at 213 Migeon Avenue in Torrington.

Liens remained on the property until the Sanfords sold it in 1902 to Victor Buck, a retired New York businessman.
Mrs. Sanford is reported to have disliked the castle, The Bucks used it as a summer residence until 1923, which it was sold again to Charles Darling Parks.
Parks, president of the American Hatters and Furriers Co. and owner of the Tarrywile estate directly to the west of Hearthstone on Brushy Hill Road, is said to have purchased it for his daughter, Irene Parks Jennings Rathmell.
Mrs. Rathmell occupied the castle until her death in 1976.

Hearthstone Castle is significant not only for its design, which anticipates the better-known castle built in Hadlyme by William Gillette by almost two decades, but for its fine construction and its exceptional preservation as an estate, with all of its major outbuildings intact.
It reflects a nineteenth-century taste among newly rich Americans for palatial country residences, as well, as a late Romantic taste for rusticity and exoticism.
The estate's grounds were left largely in their natural state, and the castle it-self is referred to in the deed from the Sanfords to the Bucks as "the Lodge."
 The rough quality of the castle's fieldstone exterior and the wood-shingled walls of the outbuildings reinforce this emphasis on natural textures and on a harmonious relationship with the wooded, mountaintop site.
The spacious, open veranda, from which towns far -to the north could be sighted, provided a setting as well for summer parties.

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Hearthstone Castle is significant as late nineteenth-century country estate centered on an architect's interpretation of a medieval castle. Hearthstone Castle and its related Shingle-style outbuildings, which include a caretaker's cottage, carriage house, water tower, pump-house and sheds, were constructed as a summer estate between 1895 and 1899 for Elias Starr Sanford and his wife, Emma. Sanford, a Danbury native, achieved success and a national reputation as a society portrait photographer in New York City as a partner in the firm of Davis & Sanford. Following the dissolution of the firm in the early twentieth century, Sanford conducted studios in New Haven, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Greenwich and Texas. In 1895, at the height of his success, Sanford purchased eighteen acres of woodland at "Mountain End," a rocky promontory that overlooks the southern part of the city of Danbury. Two acres were cleared, but the property was left ungraded except in the immediate vicinity of the building. Construction of the castle commenced in the fall of 1895 and was completed in June 1899. Stone for the castle was quarried on the property and at Collins  quarry to the south on Brushy Hill Road, and was transported to the construction site by means of a narrow-gauge railroad.
The castle's architect was Ernest G. W. Dietrich of New York. A Danbury Evening News article of October 7, 1895, outlines his initial plan for the castle as a seventeen-room, 80 ft × 100 ft building, with its upper story of wood. The same article mentions a 38 ft × 48 ft barn to be constructed with architectural features "corresponding to those of the house," and makes no mention of any other outbuildings. That plans were changed during the course of construction is confirmed by the building of the second story of the castle in stone, with a memorial stone bearing the date "1897" set in the middle of the west elevation, and by the fact that the dimensions of both the castle and the present carriage house are smaller than those stated in the article. A mechanics' lien filed in the Danbury land records by Charles Crossley, a local architect and builder, cites "services rendered" between May, 1897, and June, 1899.  However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that Crossley or a second architect contributed to the castle's design. Moreover, Dietrich is known to have worked in the Shingle style of the outbuildings, and is noted for his residential architecture. Among his commissions is the Luther Turner House at 213 Migeon Avenue in Torrington.
Liens remained on the property until the Sanfords sold it in 1902 to Victor Buck, a retired New York businessman. Mrs. Sanford is reported to have disliked the castle, The Bucks used it as a summer residence until 1923, which it was sold again to Charles Darling Parks. Parks, president of the American Hatters and Furriers Co. and owner of the Tarrywile estate directly to the west of Hearthstone on Brushy Hill Road, is said to have purchased it for his daughter, Irene Parks Jennings Rathmell. Mrs. Rathmell occupied the castle until her death in 1976.
Hearthstone Castle is significant not only for its design, which anticipates the better-known castle built in Hadlyme by William Gillette by almost two decades, but for its fine construction and its exceptional preservation as an estate, with all of its major outbuildings intact. It reflects a nineteenth-century taste among newly rich Americans for palatial country residences, as well, as a late Romantic taste for rusticity and exoticism. The estate's grounds were left largely in their natural state, and the castle it-self is referred to in the deed from the Sanfords to the Bucks as "the Lodge."  The rough quality of the castle's fieldstone exterior and the wood-shingled walls of the outbuildings reinforce this emphasis on natural textures and on a harmonious relationship with the wooded, mountaintop site. The spacious, open veranda, from which towns far -to the north could be sighted, provided a setting as well for summer parties.
The castle incorporates elements from div
Hearthstone Castle