Castle Secrets: Hound of the Baskervilles Pictures

Visit a British manor house that inspired the revival of a literary hero, tour a sprawling New York mansion and explore a German castle that served as a prisoner-of-war camp.

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When famous writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, visited the coastal area of eastern England and dined with the owner of Cromer Hall, he was motivated to revive his most well-known literary character, Sherlock Holmes.

For generations, the area of England where Cromer Hall is located has been rumored to be haunted by a ferocious wild dog. This piece of folklore inspired Doyle to write The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The Lyndhurst estate in Tarrytown, NY, sits on 67 acres by the Hudson River. The estate was last owned by railroad tycoon, Jay Gould, who was known as the “Wizard of Wall Street.”

But Gould met his match when he encountered a charming Scottish aristocrat with a surprise up his sleeve. Gould would regret this ill-fated friendship for the remainder of his life in this sprawling country estate.

High on a hilltop in central Germany stands the massive white-washed edifice of Colditz Castle, located not far from Dresden and haunted by its Nazi history.

During World War II, Colditz Castle served as a prisoner-of-war camp where the Nazis guarded their most incorrigible inmates. It was also the location of one of the most daring prison breaks during the war.

In the small French village of Rennes-le-Chateau, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene was the parish of 19th-century priest, Bérenger Saunière, who claimed to have found a buried treasure.

Saunière funded the building of this orangery, or greenhouse, and a connected tower as a residence for retired priests, but how did the priest afford such a lavish project?

More than a century later, people continue to visit Rennes-le-Chateau to stay in villas such as this one and to continue to search for buried treasure.

The small town of Berkeley Springs, WV, became the unlikely setting for a fairy tale castle when a Southern belle built a home there, thanks to the generosity of her much older husband. But her husband then met a suspicious demise.

Also known as the Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage, Berkley Springs Castle once saw many extravagant parties. Now a National Historic Site, rumors abound that the castle is haunted by numerous spirits.

This magnificent Newport, RI, mansion, Marble House, became the setting for an epic family quarrel.

Built between 1888 and 1892 by Mr. William K. Vanderbilt for his wife’s birthday, Marble House was the family’s “summer cottage.” But Mrs. Vanderbilt was a ruthless social climber who would stop at nothing to reach the pinnacle of East Coast society.

Marble House, named for its 500,000 cubic feet of marble, is now a National Historic Landmark and continues to be a hallmark of wealth in America.

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Castle Secrets: Hound of the Baskervilles Pictures

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