Craigdarroch Castle pics, part 1

 In Victoria, BC, we went to two castles, Craigdarroch and Hatley. Hatley Castle was built by the son of the man who built Craigdarroch.

Craigdarroch was not what I expected. When we first drove in, though the street was named "Craigdarroch" I was quite sure we were lost. Why? Because it's smack dab in the middle of a residential area! It's really odd to "behold a castle"--my first, to-- with two normal sized houses right next to it. :)

Though the size seemed closer to a nice Edwardian house than to a castle, something about it seems a tad more regal than houses I've toured with my family. I think it was the stained glass windows and towers.This pic I found doesn't do it the justice.

The "grand entrance" was very small..... but look up, and you'll see this:

 It's difficult to see, but there are many, many stories to this house. And they all have this sort of wood (except darker in real life) on the walls:

don't know what it's called but it's lovely.

 The gold purse on display in the library. A lot of the furnishings and most of the stuff displayed were from other houses (they were sold yearrrsss ago) but this is Mrs. Dunsmuir's actual gold purse.

a book on display.

 lovely glass.

 Guess what this is? HUMAN hair! They used to collect locks of each other's hair and do this. It's kinda gross-looking, I gotta say....

 a bit of history....

This is what I loved most about the house: the Briar Rose stained glass for the tower.  I LOVE Briar Roses. :)

Part two coming soon!!!