Kimball Castle, the historic home overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee in Gilford, was destroyed in a fire Wednesday morning.
The blaze broke out around 3:45 a.m., according to firefighting officials. It spread to a couple acres of surrounding woodland before crews contained it mid-morning. Lake Shore Drive was closed nearby Route 11 while firefighters worked at the scene.
Gilford Fire Chief Stephen Carrier told WMUR the roof collapsed and the building is a complete loss. He has ordered it to be completely taken down because the structure is unsafe.
The home at 59 Lockes Hill Road was built in the late 1890s as a summer home for Benjamin Ames Kimball, president of the Boston, Montreal and Concord railways. The two-story granite building was modeled on castles that Kimball saw on Germany’s Rhine River.
It passed out of the Kimball family in 1960 and has had a turbulent history since, including derailed attempts to run it as a wildlife preserve as the result of money missing from a trust. Much of the original 300-acre property was subdivided after Gilford took over as trustees in 1981.
The home and surrounding 20 acres have been privately owned for years. Plans to turn it into a wedding venue never came to pass.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nobody was injured in the blaze, and a cause has not been determined.