Which Castle Would You Choose?

Me, I choose the Historic Redstone Castle!

This is all hypothetical, of course, but in this game if you move to your fantasy castle, let's also pretend that you don't have to work unless you want to, your castle comes staffed with landscapers and maintenance engineers, and the stack of books and movies you've been meaning to look at come with you. If you're into horses, you can have several. You can bring your family . . . or not. If your castle is in France, you'll magically know French; Russia, Russian.

So all accessories aside, which castle would you choose?

Me, I'd choose a castle that isn't really even a castle.

The Redstone Castle in Redstone, Colorado was originally built in 1897 for coal and steel magnate John Cleveland Osgood. It was constructed in the tudor-style and was used as a hunting retreat. The large sandstone hand-cut block building was constructed by the finest craftsmen of the era to design the features of his 42-room, 24,000 square foot home. The paneling was crafted by Gustav Stickley, the fixtures by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The views are beautiful and nestled in the valley overlooking the Crystal River and the pasture of horses, you truly feel transported.

For my 17th birthday, my parents took me and a friend to stay the night in this magnificent historic building which is no longer open as a B&B. What I remember most though is not the Stickley or the stones or even the horses. It is the cracked mirror in our bedroom. (I had to recreate this one, as there are surprisingly no images of a cracked and painted Stickley mirror available on the internet.)

Some inventive custodian painted a delicate branch of blossoms across the mirror. At first glance I thought it was just a decoration. On closer look, you could see the crack and to me--a thrifty Do-It-Yourselfer in the making--this was a brilliant solution. It didn't damage the mirror as the paint could be razored right off. It didn't damage the historic frame, and for an artist with acrylics in hand, it didn't cost a cent.

Since then, I have "repaired" three mirrors this way. Every time I think of the castle and wish I could go back to see if that mirror really exists.