Searles Castle in Windham was ordered built by Edward Francis Searles. He hired architect Henry Vaughn to design it to be a 1/4 size replica of the medieval Tudor manor of Stanton Harcourt in Oxon England. It is built of cut granite, fieldstone, and dark red sandstone most of which came from Searles' own quarries in Pelham, NH. It's construction began in 1905 and was completed in 1915 at a cost of about one and a quarter million dollars ($1,250,000).
The castle consists of an Entrance, a Reception Hall, a Foyer, a Dining Room, a Music Room, a Sun Porch, a Library, a Grand Stairway, a Second Floor Guest Suite, a Third Floor Guest Suite, a Second Floor Rotunda (or Balcony), Servants Rooms, a Kitchen, a Butlers Pantry, Butlers Rooms, and a Master Bedroom Suite which consists of; a Master Bedroom, a Sitting Room, a Bathroom, and a Sunroom and today, there is also a Castle Gift Shop.
Edward Searles was born in Methuen, MA on July 4, 1841. Over the years, he was a piano teacher, carpenters apprentice, upholsterer, and an interior decorator. When he married, he wed a woman by the name of Mary Hopkins who was 22 years older than Edward. They married on Nov 9, 1887 and took a six month voyage to Europe. In 1890 the couple lived in Rome for a short time, but their happiness was short lived, the following year, Mary died on July 25 at the age of 72.
After the death of his wife, Searles ordered some items to be moved to the castle in Windham from his house in Barrington. These included the Gothic Doors of Windsor Castle, the Napoleon Fireplace from the Palace of the Tuileries and the Grand Staircase.