Curwood Castle is a small castle, now a museum, located in

Owosso, Michigan Owosso () is the largest city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,714 at the 2020 census. It is located west of Flint, and northeast of Lansing. The city is mostly surrounded by Owosso Township on its we ...

, built by the author

James Oliver Curwood James Oliver Curwood (June 12, 1878 – August 13, 1927) was an American action-adventure writer and conservationist. His books were often based on adventures set in the Hudson Bay area, the Yukon or Alaska and ranked among the top-ten best selle ...

History

James Curwood was born in

on June 12, 1878. He spent much of his early life out of doors, and at a young age left to tour the South on a bicycle. He eventually returned to Michigan, attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

for two years, and went to work as a reporter and later editor at the

Detroit Tribune The ''Detroit Tribune'' was a newspaper in Detroit. It started as the ''Daily Tribune'' in 1849 and used the name until 1862, the same year the ''Tribune'' joined with the (Detroit) ''Daily Advertiser'' which then absorbed other papers, becomin ...

. In 1907, Curwood returned to Owosso to focus on writing, and the next year published his first novel. In 1923, Curwood built this replica of a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

chateau along the banks of the

Shiawassee River The Shiawassee River ( ) in the U.S. state of Michigan drains an area of within Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland, Genesee County, Michigan, Genesee, Livingston County, Michigan, Livingston, Shiawassee County, Michigan, Shiawassee, Midland Coun ...

near his mother's home in Owosso. Construction on the building began in 1923 and was completed in 1924. Curwood used the Castle as his writing studio and office. Curwood lived with his family on the other side of the river on the corner of Williams and Mulberry Street (Now M-52). Curwood later became a zealous conservationist and was appointed to the

Michigan Conservation Commission Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio t ...

in 1926. He died a year later at age 49 on August 13, 1927. In his will, Curwood bestowed the Castle to the City of Owosso. It has served in various roles over the years and is now a museum operated by the city and is open to the public from April through December on Tuesdays through Sundays from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The Castle closed for the winter season each year from January 1, through February and reopens for the year sometime in March. Each year, the city of Owosso hosts the Curwood Festival the first full weekend in June. The Curwood Festival is a non-profit organization run by volunteers and one paid staff member, the volunteers created the festival to celebrate the life and works of James Oliver Curwood. Curwood Castle is closed Mondays, and these holidays, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day, The Months of January through February.

Description

Curwood Castle is a romantic interpretation of a Norman chateau. It has an irregular plan with spires at three corners. It has a slate-covered gable roof with chimneys, linked at the base, extending from the rear gable facade. The exterior is made of yellow

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

containing decorative, randomly spaced

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

s Curwood chose himself. The front facade has an entrance, framed with fieldstone, between two spires, covered with a projecting shed roof.

References

External links

Curwood Castle
- Michigan tourism

{{authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Houses completed in 1923 Castles in the United States Museums in Shiawassee County, Michigan Biographical museums in Michigan Literary museums in the United States Houses in Shiawassee County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Shiawassee County, Michigan 1923 establishments in Michigan