Jordanville is a
hamletA hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in
the town of Warren----Warren is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 1,136 at the 2000 census. The town is named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill....
,
Herkimer County, New YorkHerkimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,519. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part...
. Jordanville is in the northwest part of Warren, at the intersection of Routes 18 and 155. The community was settled before 1791.
Gelston Castle
This castle, with stone sourced from
Little Falls, New YorkLittle Falls is a city in Herkimer County, New York, USA. The population was 5,188 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from a small cataract near the city....
, was built in 1836 by Harriet Douglas Cruger. She had been inspired by Gelson Castle, owned by her uncle in Scotland, which she visited while traveling as a young woman. Harriet Douglas was described as an independent and eccentric woman, who had her marriage bed sawed in half and used as two couches after an acrimonious divorce. She was profiled in
Miss Douglas of New York, a book written by Angus Davidson in 1953.
The property passed to her niece Fanny Robinson, daughter of Harriet's sister Elizabeth Mary Douglas and James Monroe, nephew of President
James MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
. Fanny Robinson left the castle to her son Douglas Robinson, who married Corrine Roosevelt, the sister of President
Theodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. Their eldest son, Theodore Douglas Robinson, married Helen Roosevelt, a half-niece of President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. Helen Roosevelt Robinson was the last family member to live in the house, passing away on July 8, 1962.
After Helen Roosevelt Robinson died, her son, Douglas Robinson Jr., sold the property to Mrs. Jan Blair of New Jersey, who operated a retirement home on the premises. She sold the property to the Asian Conservation Laboratory in 1974, who subsequently sold the property to Mrs. Frances Kudla, who operated a retirement home there. Mrs. Kudla sold the property in 1979 to
Mstislav RostropovichMstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
, the Russian cellist and later musical director and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (United States). He and his wife, the soprano
Galina VishnevskayaGalina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966.-Biography:...
, constructed a million dollar 8300 sq ft (771.1 m²) contemporary residence on the sprawling estate grounds, yards from the castle, in 1983.
The castle, largely unoccupied for most the second half of the 20th Century, fell into a state of complete disrepair with almost all of the structure now collapsed. After Rostropovich left the United States for Russia in the late 1990s, the whole estate was marketed for most of the 2000–2007 time frame as Gelston Manor. While the property amassed by Rostropovich was parceled off in 2006–2007 the castle has continued to be visited by Herkimer County Historical Society in recent years. That organization has held an annual "Weekend at Gelston Castle".
In 2007, Gelston Castle was purchased along with the Rostropovich Mansion and 330 acres (1.3 km²) by the Safflyn Corporation, an environmental development corporation that works with companies and individuals on reducing their carbon footprint, integrating renewable energy sources, promoting environmentally safe products, and lowering the bottom line for consumption of non-renewable resources. The Rostropovich Mansion has been renovated to be a "Green Building" and now operates as a Wedding and Event Performance Center called Chateau Safflyn. The Castle continues to remain a historical attraction and the property is open for tours on a limited schedule.
Holy Trinity Monastery
The Holy Trinity Monastery for men (
Russian Orthodox Church Outside RussiaThe Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR) is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church....
- ROCOR, a jurisdiction within the
Russian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
) is located one mile (1.6 km) north of Jordanville. This
monasteryMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, which was founded in 1928, includes a
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
,
bell towerA bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
, and a
seminaryA seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
.