I Didn’t Expect to Find a Castle on the Massachusetts Coast

Imagine driving along the rocky Massachusetts coastline when you come around the corner and all of a sudden you see towering stone walls, castle turrets, and a drawbridge. For a second, you might wonder if you somehow took a wrong turn and ended up in Europe. That's exactly the feeling Hammond Castle gives you.

As someone who's still discovering New England one road trip at a time, I couldn't believe a place like this had been hiding so close. And once you learn the story behind it, the castle becomes even more fascinating.

Credit: Getty Images

Honestly, I had no idea there was an actual medieval-looking castle sitting on the coastline of Massachusetts.

As you wind your way through Gloucester, the roads get a little narrower, the ocean starts to appear, and then suddenly... there it is.

Stone towers.

Arched windows.

A drawbridge.

It honestly feels like someone picked up a European castle and dropped it onto a cliff overlooking the Atlantic.

Credit: Getty Images

The castle was built in the late 1920s by inventor John Hays Hammond Jr., one of America's most brilliant inventors. He's often called the "Father of Radio Control" because his work helped lay the foundation for technologies we still use today, like remote controls to guided missile systems.

He didn't build a traditional mansion, Hammond created something far more personal.

He filled it with pieces of history he'd collected while traveling through Europe, massive stone fireplaces, ancient archways, stained glass windows, religious artifacts, and even portions of centuries-old buildings that were carefully transported across the Atlantic and rebuilt inside his home.

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Walking through Hammond Castle almost feels like wandering through a museum that forgot what century it's supposed to be in.

One room looks like a cathedral.

The next feels like an old library.

Credit: Getty Images

Then you step outside, and you're looking over crashing waves and giant granite boulders that remind you you're still in New England.

If you're looking for an easy day trip, Hammond Castle is only about an hour south of Portsmouth and makes a perfect stop if you're already exploring Gloucester, Rockport, Cape Ann or the Eastern Point Lighthouse.

As the new guy in New England, places like this are exactly what I love to find.

Every weekend seems to uncover another place that makes me stop and say...

*"Wait... what?"*