Historic Kimball Castle to be torn down after fire, officials say

By Maria Wilson

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    GILFORD, New Hampshire (WMUR) — The historic Kimball Castle will need to be torn down after a fire Wednesday morning, fire officials said.

Fire crews started receiving calls about a fire in Gilford around 3 a.m.

“They weren’t exactly sure what was on fire,” Gilford Fire Chief Stephen Carrier said. “They began to receive more calls indicating that there was a large brush fire on the side of Route 11 or Lakeshore Road in the area of Scenic Drive.”

Crews quickly learned the building that was on fire was Kimball Castle, which is at 59 Lockes Hill Road. The flames quickly spread into the brush.

“We actually went to a second alarm for the building fire,” Carrier said. “It was a fully involved building. The roof had collapsed and the floors were beginning to collapse, and it was beginning to spread to the brush around the building.”

Crews were able to get the fire under control before 5 a.m.

According to Carrier, the building is a complete loss. He said the floors, ceilings and roof collapsed, and what was left of the structure was unsafe.

Lisa Berghahn said she and her husband woke up shortly after the fire started. She said they could smell the smoke from their house across the street.

“My husband just walked out on the deck, and he noticed that there were ashes on the deck, and you could smell the smoke,” Berghahn said. “Everything’s been so dry. And we were concerned about the area.”

Crews from several other communities stepped in to help battle the flames, but Carrier said the damage to the historic castle was significant.

“That’s probably going to signal the end to the building,” Carrier said. “There’s still some hot embers in the building in the cellar hole.”

Carrier said the owner of Kimball Castle was contacted and the building was ordered to be taken down due to “instability and fire damage.”

Kimball Castle was built in the late 1890s by Benjamin Ames Kimball, who was president of the Boston, Montreal and Concord railways and had also served as president of several Concord banks. He designed the two-story granite edifice after castles he’d seen on Germany’s Rhine River.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

According to the fire chief, the fire spread to the surrounding wooded area, and approximately two acres of brush were burned.

Regarding the fire investigation, fire officials said they are receiving assistance from the State Fire Marshal’s Office because it involved a historic building.

A section of Route 11 was closed while firefighters fought the fire at Kimball Castle and the nearby brush fire.

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