In the last blog, we learned that the Castle had seen its final concert in 1993, then following Arthur Reibel’s death in 1999, the property went up for sale again…
Linda had always been fascinated with stone architecture and when she travelled up to Charlevoix with her high-school sweetheart, Richard and his family, Linda had the opportunity to visit the Farms. Even with its roofs in ruins and interior in shambles, the magnificent structures called to her.
Years later, with Linda and Richard now happily married and still spending summers in Charlevoix, The Castle property came up for sale. Linda knew that she needed to save these buildings and when she finally got the opportunity to do so, she jumped at it.
“When I was 18 years old, I was fascinated with the great stone walls and arches of The Castle, and I visited it every time it was open for events,” Linda recounts. “Now I have an opportunity to restore part of a grand estate, and create new memories for Charlevoix residents and visitors.”
Though it took some time, her patience paid off and on January 4, 2001, Linda because the fourth owner of Castle Farms. It wasn’t much of a dream castle, there were major repairs and renovations needed to bring this property back to life.
Castle Farms, reduced to a thirty-seven acre property, was a public eyesore, with broken windows and crumbling fieldstone walls. Deterioration had set in and the property suffered severly from neglect. The dairy barns and silos were roofless, except for the service wings. The horse barn roof was sagging and near collapse, but Linda was determined to do everything she could to rescue The Castle for future generations.