Hammond Castle Museum, Massachusetts, United States
4.5 (665 reviews) Temporarily closed - Closed until Apr 1, 2023 Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #5 in Cape Ann Castles • History Museums
A MUST SEE in Gloucester
Hammond Castle Museum is now closed to public tours for the winter. The Museum will reopen on April 1, 2023. Hammond Castle Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At nearly a century old, it is not handicap accessible. The Museum’s architectural style is mix of medieval castle, French chateau, and Gothic cathedral. It was custom built to encompass Hammond’s private residence, laboratory and museum quality collection of architectural elements such as the facades of medieval shops and doorways from chateaus. Hammond’s extensive list of patents, and his work on radio control and on echo guided torpedoes for the military are also on display. It is available for weddings and private rentals.
Address
80 Hesperus Ave, Gloucester, MA 01930-5273
Mobile
Website
http://www.hammondcastle.org
Working hours
Opening Hours: Fr-Su 10:00-16:00
Current local date and time now
Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 13:17
User Ratings
4.5 based on (665 reviews)
Reviews
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4NSL1986 5:00 PM Sep 20, 2021
Worth a visit, but lots of stairs
Hammond Castle is worth a stop when in the Cape Ann area. Built in 1926 by eccentric inventor John Hays Hammond Jr. as home and museum, it showcases a variety of historical architectural styles and has some interesting artifacts on exhibit—as well as amazing views of the ocean. It’s well worth it to take the guided tour to hear about the interesting character that was John Hammond. Do not take the 3:00 tour, as you likely won’t have enough time to see the portions of the castle that are self-guided. It’s worth noting that there is no part of this place that is handicapped accessible and if anyone in your party has trouble with stairs, balance, or vision in low-light conditions this will not be enjoyable. The street and parking lot are above the building, which is set into the hill below, so there is a flight of (uneven, irregular, although charming) stairs just to get down to the entrance, with no way to drop someone at the door. There are also many dimly lit, narrow, winding and uneven stairs in the building, many without handrails-as one might find in an actual ancient european castle.
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4Angielynn7 5:00 PM Aug 14, 2021
Interesting castle and artifacts
Visited Hammond Castle today and throughly enjoyed it. Signed up for the guided tour which took about 30 minutes. Our guide was Caleb who was very knowledgable and entertaining. The guided tour was followed by a self guided tour through the remainder of the property. We found lots of interesting items to see and read about. Plan to go early and buy your guided tour tickets online first. Self guided can be purchased onsite. Parking can be challenging we arrived for the 10:30am tour but leaving at noon the cars were lined up on street to get in. Also as others have mentioned in reviews inside the castle is not suited for people with mobility issues. Stairwells are very narrow and spiral up. Overall it was worth the visit and would recommend checking it out if in the area.
