{{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{infobox building | name = Carrollcliffe | image = File:Tarrytown NY Castle Hotel.jpg | location = 400 Benedict Avenue, Tarrytown, New York | coordinates = {{coord|41.0671|-73.8490|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = New York | completion_date = {{Start date and age|1897}},<br/>{{Start date and age|1910}} }} '''Carrollcliffe''' (also formerly known as '''Castle Hotel & Spa''', '''The Castle at Tarrytown''', and '''Axe Castle''') is a historic castle-like building located in Tarrytown, New York. Overlooking the Hudson River valley, it is about {{convert|20|mi|km}} north of the George Washington Bridge. Its hilltop location and the height of its stone towers make it a dominant feature of the area skyline. Built in two stages, in 1897 and 1910, it was constructed to resemble a European castle.<ref name="Tarrytown1997">{{cite book|author=|title=Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow|url=|year=1997|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7524-0881-1|pages=}}</ref> In 1981, the village of Tarrytown designated the building a historic landmark.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2018 |title=Westchester County Gives Film The Royal Treatment, Part 1 |url=https://www.visitwestchesterny.com/blog/post/westchester-county-gives-film-the-royal-treatment-part-1/ |access-date=February 9, 2026 |website=Visit Westchester NY |language=}}</ref> It is part of Westchester County's historical Millionaires' Row.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Sexton |first=Julia |date=January 18, 2013 |title=Westchester’s Gilded Age Estates: Eating, Drinking and Playing Like an Aristocrat |url=https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/westchesters-gilded-age-estates-eating-drinking-and-playing-like-an-aristocrat/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251018072930/https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/westchesters-gilded-age-estates-eating-drinking-and-playing-like-an-aristocrat/ |archive-date=October 18, 2025 |access-date=January 15, 2026 |work=Westchester Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dunwell |first=Frances F. |title=The Hudson: America's River [Chapter 10: Millionaires' Row] |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231509961}}</ref> The immediate area where Carrollcliffe is located is locally referred to as the Tarrytown Crest.
== History == Named Carrollcliffe, it was built as the residence of General Howard Carroll, with the intention that it should reflect the Norman castle architecture of Ireland,<ref name="Rovito2006">{{cite book|author=Lisa Marie Rovito|title=Frommer's Great Escapes From NYC Without Wheels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zCr40ge9_0C&pg=PA55|date=14 August 2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-04454-4|pages=55–}}</ref> where his father, Howard Carroll Sr., was originally from.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Irish Colonels: Howard Carroll, 105th New York Infantry |url=https://irishamericancivilwar.com/2011/05/15/irish-colonels-howard-carroll-105th-new-york-infantry/ |access-date=February 8, 2026 |website=Irish in the American Civil War |language=en-US}}</ref> It is based on a design by the architect Henry Franklin Kilburn. The finished castle boasted 45 rooms<ref name=":1" /> and crenellated towers.
'''Howard Carroll''' (1854-1916) was the son of Major General Howard Carroll of the Union army, who was killed at the Civil War Battle of Antietam.<ref name=":3" /> After completing his education, split between schools in Albany, New York, and in Europe, Carroll Jr. became the Washington correspondent at, and a special writer for, ''The New York Times''<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=A General’s Residence in Greenburgh: The story of Carrollcliffe |url=https://www.greenburghny.com/DocumentCenter/View/7207/A-Generals-Residence-in-Greenburgh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820194738/https://www.greenburghny.com/DocumentCenter/View/7207/A-Generals-Residence-in-Greenburgh |archive-date=August 20, 2025 |website=Town of Greenburgh NY}}</ref> as well as a successful playwright.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Steiner |first=Henry |title=The Place Names of Historic Sleepy Hollow & Tarrytown |publisher=Heritage Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7884-0961-5 |pages=33}}</ref> Having enlisted in the New York State Militia, he earned the rank of brigadier general. A well-connected individual, he was married to a daughter of John H. Starin, a former Congressman and prominent entrepreneur.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lot - (NEW YORK.) Papers of New York developer and author Howard Carroll. |url=https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/new-york.-papers-of-new-york-developer-and-auth_17E4773810 |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=www.swanngalleries.com}}</ref> He was involved in Starin's businesses, becoming an owner of a paving company and an amusement park.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Papers of New York developer and author Howard Carroll |url=https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/new-york.-papers-of-new-york-developer-and-auth_17E4773810 |access-date=February 7, 2026 |website=Swann Galleries}}</ref> J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie were frequent guests at Carrollcliffe.<ref name=":2" /> After his death in 1916, the rest of the Carroll family continued to live at Carrollcliffe until 1940.<ref name=":2" />
Beginning in 1941, the building served for decades as the headquarters of the financial firm Axe-Houghton Management<ref name="times">{{cite news|last=Singer|first=Penny|title=The View from Axe Castle: Optimistic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/08/nyregion/the-view-from-axe-castle-optimistic.html|accessdate=30 November 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=8 November 1987}}</ref> (acquired by BNY Mellon). In 1992, Swiss private banker Hanspeter Walder and his wife bought the property along with a group of investors. Their stated vision was to convert the castle into a luxury inn while rediscovering and ultimately preserving its original beauty and charm.<ref>{{cite news|work=Connecticut Post|last1=Boros|first1=Phyllis|title=IN BUSINESS; Spend the Night in the Castle of your Dreams?|url=https://www.ctpost.com/}}</ref> Walder was later convicted of embezzlement and misapplication of bank funds and sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for defrauding clients out of $70 million to pay for renovations and operations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lehmann |first=John |date=2003-01-11 |title=BANKER'S CASTLE CRUMBLES : GETS 8 YEARS IN $70M THEFT TO FUND LUXURY HOTEL |url=https://nypost.com/2003/01/11/bankers-castle-crumbles-gets-8-years-in-70m-theft-to-fund-luxury-hotel/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=70 000 Years of Hard Labor |url=https://www.hossli.com/articles/2005/09/01/70-000-years-of-hard-labor/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=hossli.com}}</ref>
In 2003, Elite Hotels, a limited liability company formed by C. Dean Metropoulos, purchased the property, then called The Castle at Tarrytown, for $10.9 million (according to a newspaper article at the time, which described it as "a 31-room inn on 10.1 acres").<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brenner|first1=Elsa|title=IN BUSINESS; Going Price for Castles? In Tarrytown, $10.9 Million|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/25/nyregion/in-business-going-price-for-castles-in-tarrytown-10.9-million.html|accessdate=30 July 2016|work=The New York Times|date=25 May 2003}}</ref> It operated as a hotel<ref name="Leahy2007">{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Leahy|title=If You're Thinking of Living In . . .: All About 115 Great Neighborhoods In & Around New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2onYcLQja8C&pg=PA351|date=18 December 2007|publisher=Doubleday Religious Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42107-4|pages=351–}}</ref> and spa until November 2024 and has since been vacant.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Muchnick |first=Jeanne |title=This Westchester historic property has closed, again |url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/tarrytown/2025/02/28/tarrytown-ny-historic-castle-hotel-and-spa-closes-again/80258717007/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=The Journal News |language=en-US}}</ref>
== In popular culture == The building has served as a filming location for several productions.<ref name=":5" /> Early films include the 1917 silent film ''Richard the Braze''n and the 1922 film ''The Headless Horseman'', which utilized its grounds and exterior. More recently, the Beyoncé music video "Irreplaceable" (2006) and scenes for the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014) were filmed there, specifically in its Oak Room.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=February 28, 2025 |title=This Westchester historic property has closed, again |url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/tarrytown/2025/02/28/tarrytown-ny-historic-castle-hotel-and-spa-closes-again/80258717007/ |access-date= |website=The Journal News |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{cite web|title=Castle Hotel and Spa: History|url=http://www.castlehotelandspa.com/About/History.aspx|accessdate=30 November 2013}}
Category:Hotels in New York (state) Category:Tarrytown, New York Category:Castles in New York (state) Category:Houses in Westchester County, New York Category:Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
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