A privately owned castle built on an island in Ellicott Creek in Williamsville has changed hands for the first time in more than 60 years.
Sheryl M. Davies and her husband, Jason, purchased the century-old stone home known as "Cambria Castle" or "Oechsner's Castle" from the family that has owned the 1.3-acre property on Dream Island since the 1950s, according to a deed filed with the Erie County Clerk's Office. The couple bought the property for $750,000 through a limited liability company and the sale closed Monday.
Sheryl and Jason Davies have lived on Castle Creek Trail for a couple of years and the private access road to the island runs through their property. "The castle's in our backyard," Sheryl Davies said in an interview Tuesday.
Sheryl Davies said she and her husband soon will begin the process of restoring the garden and the home, which has deteriorated in recent decades, but they have not decided what they will do with the property. However, she said the property is zoned residential and they don't anticipate changing that status.
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"Everything with the castle is up in the air," Davies said. But, she added, "The castle was built as a sanctuary, and it's meant to stay that way."
The castle and the island are private property and the public normally is barred from the site, whether by foot or by boat, although people do trespass on the site. But the castle gained considerable attention in April 2017 when an estate sale provided the public with a rare opportunity to visit the grounds.
A German-born mason named Ignatz Oechsner began building the castle in 1917 because he was homesick for his native village and its medieval castle, according to Sue Miller Young's 1965 book "A History of the Town of Amherst, New York."
Fossil rock from the Town of Holland was used to construct the castle, towers and moat, but Oechsner died in 1942 before finishing the structure.
The property was then neglected, changed ownership several times and badly damaged by a fire in 1956, leaving only the walls, just after it was purchased by H. Reginald Davies and his wife, Winifred, who restored the home's interior in 1958, according to Miller Young's account.
The castle became a mix of modern and medieval. The exterior features a carrier pigeon tower, gargoyles, animal reliefs, arched cornices and a library room in a turret, Mary Lowther, president of the Village of Williamsville Historical Society, told The Buffalo News last year. The village designated the property as a local landmark in the early 1990s.
Ownership passed to the Davies' daughters, Mildred O'Rourke and Onalee Davies. O'Rourke died several years ago and Onalee Davies resides in an assisted living facility. Sheryl and Jason Davies, the new owners, are no relation to the sellers.
Sheryl Davies said she has started consulting with architects and other experts on how best to begin restoring the grounds and the castle itself.
Davies, who advises property owners on how to perform ecologically friendly landscaping, said the couple wants to begin by creating sustainable gardens on the castle property. She said much of the grounds are overrun with invasive species. The LLC used to purchase the property, Lizardtail, is named after a native plant found on Dream Island.
The Davies next will begin to tackle the building itself, which requires substantial repairs. A section of the roof has collapsed, for example.
"It needs a lot of work," said Davies, who said she couldn't put a timeline or a price tag on the process. "We're taking this one step at a time."