On our previous trip to Murrells Inlet in South Carolina we visited Brookgreen Gardens but this time we skipped that and went to explore Atalaya Castle (which means watchtower) which was built by Archer Huntington and his wife Anna Hyatt Huntington. Mr. Huntington was an industrialist and philanthropist and his wife was a famous sculptor. Brookgreen Gardens and Atalaya Castle were both left as their legacy and what a legacy they left.

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The home was the winter home for the Huntingtons and built in the Moorish architecture style of the Spanish Mediterranean Coast to be primarily the studio for Mrs. Huntington’s sculpture work. Her sculptures were often large in scale and having a huge open room as well as an outdoor studio provided her with the perfect place to create her artwork.

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Indoor art studio

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Mr. Huntington was ahead of his time with a shower complete with 7 shower heads.

The house itself is pretty amazing. The outer walls form a square with two open grassy courtyards inside. The home boasts 30 rooms around three sides of the perimeter. There is a square tower that rises nearly 40 feet that bisects the inner courtyard. This was a cleverly disguised water tank. The green grillwork and shutters on the windows were designed by Mrs. Huntington and protected the house from hurricane force winds.

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Bear pens?

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The castle is a pretty neat part of the park and we were happy that we were able to take a walk around and check it out on this trip. If you are ever in the area it is definitely worth a look. More information can be found by clicking here.

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Thanks for coming along on my tour today! Have you ever been to this state park and the Atalaya Castle? I would love to hear about it and you can Comment for a Cause for Pretty Place.