Saint Clements Castle was built in 1902 as a summer residence, near the edge of a steep hill with a panoramic view of the Connecticut River. Its architecture represents a re-interpretation of a Norman manor house incorporating random rubble stone walls covered with vines, steep gable ends with heavy timber and white stucco, and a high tower. This integration of architecture and landscape creates a romantic context exhibiting a certain spiritual essence, evoking sentiment, charm, and a tendency towards self-reflection. 

A series of phased rehabilitations, expansions and renovations at Saint Clements, designed by Fellner Architects, is based upon the need for banquets, weddings, celebrations, and conferences. An ongoing theme is to develop a meaningful level of harmony and coherency between the old and the new. In essence, the objective is to create a setting for dining, celebration, congregation and dialogue, which becomes part of the participant’s permanent memory.

The key to designing each phase involves a sensitive comprehension of the existing vocabulary. There are many cues and signals inherent within the existing geometries, forms and details. The resulting design manifestations include intersecting cross gables, scissored roof planes, half-timbered facades, stone walls, dormers, trellis paths, and gardens. Ultimately, a natural outgrowth of the existing context allows for the formation of new elements, promoting a perpetual dialogue between the old and the new. This phase involved the design and construction of a 14,000 s.f. banquet and conference center expansion on this 80-acre site.