All Over Albany

For sale: Amsterdam Castle

Not actually a castle -- but close enough.

The Amsterdam Castle -- a former state armory converted to a bed and breakfast -- is for sale. From an article in the Daily Gazette by John Enger:

"I'm ready for my next project," [owner Susan Phemister] said. "Maybe a church."

She works in Manhattan as the vice president of planning for Thomson Reuters.

"I finish projects for a living," she said. "It's my passion."

But it's hard to sell a such a large property.

The castle was briefly on the market a few years ago with an asking price of $2.5 million and "I didn't get anywhere," she said.

This time around, they're asking for half of that, $1.25 million.

For that price, the buyer will get everything -- all of the furniture, decorations, even the sheets on the king-sized four-post beds and the bison head on the wall.

"We'll just pack our clothes and leave," she said.

Akum stayed in the castle last year with her family. As she wrote then:

Let's be clear: The Amsterdam Castle bed and breakfast is technically not a castle. It was built in the 1890s as the headquarters for Amsterdam's New York National Guard company. But your kids won't care about such details. Does it have a tower? Yes. Tall, narrow windows? Yes. A scale and grandeur that most private homes could never approach? Yes. And yes, there's a throne. That the throne sits in the middle of the indoor basketball court just makes the place even more awesome.

The Castle has that combination of quirks and elegance that makes a great B&B. And as a family getaway, it's in a class all its own.

Her post includes a bunch of photos from the place -- it looks really fun.