The Northfield Chateau, also variously known as Chalet Schell and Birnam House, was a large mansion on Birnham Road in Northfield, Massachusetts

Northfield, Massachusetts

Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. It no longer exists.

The chateau was designed by noted architect Bruce Price

Bruce Price

Bruce Price was the American architect of many of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Château-type stations and hotels...

 (of the Château Frontenac

Château Frontenac

The Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...

) for Francis Robert Schell, a New York capitalist attracted by his interest in Dwight Lyman Moody's work at the nearby Northfield Seminary and Mount Hermon School. It was completed in 1903 on grounds of 125 acre (0.5058575 km²).

The building was loosely patterned upon a French chateau

Château

A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...

 but fanciful in style, with 99 rooms in a compact, three-story structure ornamented with prominent turrets. However it was not to Mrs. Schell's taste, and the Schells evidently never lived in it. After Schell's death, the mansion fell into disrepair and was eventually given to the Northfield Hotel Company. It was never practical for hotel use and in the end was demolished in 1963.

Until that time, it was also used by two schools, Northfield Seminary and The Mount Hermon School for Boys as the location of their prom. That is why the prom at Northfield Mount Hermon School to this day is called The Chat.

Monroe and Isabel Smith

Monroe and Isabel Smith

Monroe William Smith, a former Boy Scout executive and wife Isabel Bacheler Smith, art teacher, founded American Youth Hostels as a young couple, in 1934, in Northfield, Massachusetts...

, and started one of America's first youth hostels

Hostel

Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available...

 in the chateau's basement.

The Tinney Family of Belcourt Castle

Belcourt Castle

Belcourt Castle is the former summer cottage of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Begun in 1891 and completed in 1894, it was intended to be used for only six to eight weeks of the year...

rescued many pieces from the chateau before its destruction, notably the mirrors which now are in their banquet hall.