The Hammond Castle Museum is located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hammond Castle was built from 1926-1929 by John Hays Hammond, Jr., an eccentric inventor known as the "Father of the Remote Control" for his discoveries relating to the remote control of radio waves which later when on to assist in the programming of car radios and cell phones. Hammond Castle served as his home and the site of Hammond Research Corporation, where Hammond worked. Hammond had the structure built for his wife Irene as a wedding present to "prove how much he cared for her" and also to house his large collection of Roman, Medieval and Renaissance artifacts. Thus, the Castle was designed with some of those influences in mind.
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| Early Hammond Radio Creation |
The Hammond Castle Museum and its contents reflect Hammond himself: his work, his interests, his travels; his entire life encapsulated in his unique home. Even its location on the coast of the Atlantic lends itself to Hammond's legacy. Hammond had always intended for his home to be turned into a museum. He states, in a 1924 letter to his father:
"My ambition is to leave a modest, but beautiful, museum.…I want only an authentic atmosphere, some furniture, and genuine architectural pieces -- doors, windows, etc. In cold restrained New England, a place with the romantic beauty of the Italian and French past may prove the inspiration of many poor artists and students to come. It will give them something that I have been fortunate enough to know and enjoy. I also gives me satisfaction to think that I may be able to produce something of lasting worth."
In his home, Hammond produced over 400 patents, and 800 ideas for inventions. He holds the second most number of patents, just after Thomas Edison. Hammond was an interesting character, and before settling in Gloucester to marry Irene Reynolds, he led a "playboy" life in Europe, gathering art, artifacts and ideas. Hammond was close friends with Isabella Stewart Gardner, and soon after the castle was completed he turned it into a museum to show off his collection of art, as Gardner did, in order to claim a tax exempt status on the property. Hammond liked to call it Abbadia Mare, Latin for Abbey by the Sea, because the Castle was akin to a medieval church.
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| Grounds |
Hammond, a mentee of Alexander Graham Bell, and close friend of Nikola Tesla, and performed many experiments with electromagnetic waves inside the Castle, including their involvement with ESP, with the help of a Faraday Cage, an inclosed cage designed to stop electric fields.
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| The Great Hall |
The 85ft towers house the pipes of a large organ created by Hammond. The organ, located in the Great Hall, served as the instrument used in several recordings by famous organists. Hammond enjoyed working on the organ in his spare time. It is currently in disrepair.
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| Indoor Courtyard |
The Indoor Courtyard was designed to look like a "medieval village which had sprouted up around Roman ruins". The Courtyard is covered with a glass roof which allows the elements to be seen from inside. It was reportedly Greta Garbo's favorite area in the house.
As Hammond and his wife Irene were interested in the occult, the Castle is very pleased to have been featured on a recent episode of SyFy's Ghost Hunters, which can be found in parts on youtube.
Links:
Hammond Castle Website
Hammond Castle Museum
Hammond Castle on Ghost Hunters
**Photos by me unless linked to their source**
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