Joslyn Castle

The George and Sarah Joslyn Home (officially named “Lynhurst,” and known locally as Joslyn Castle), is a mansion located at 3902 Davenport Street in the Gold Coast Historic District of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Built in the Scottish Baronial style in 1903, the Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It was designated as an Omaha landmark in 1979.

History

George Joslyn made his fortune in the ready-print news business and owned the Western Newspaper Union. The Joslyns contributed to many Omaha-area organizations, including Sarah Joslyn’s donation which made Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum possible.

Joslyn Castle was designed by John McDonald, a local architect. Shortly after George Joslyn bought a farm outside of Omaha in 1893, he began landscaping it. Landscape architect Jens Jensen designed the grounds, as well as the rock work and pools for the conservatory inside the house.

Design

The 35-room mansion has four stories, as well as a carriage house tower, built before the Castle in 1901, and 5 acres (20,000 m²) of formal gardens and landscaping, including greenhouses, which were completed in 1899. Mature trees were planted on the 5.5-acre (22,000 m²) grounds, and Sarah collected rare botanicals from around the world, including orchids. According to The Friends of Joslyn Castle, the home was built in eleven months at a cost of $250,000.

The Castle includes a reception hall, music room, ballroom, a library and gold drawing room. The basement at one time had a bowling alley. With the addition of a music room in 1906, the house totaled 19,360 square feet (1,799 m²).

The Castle and the carriage house were built of Kansas silverdale limestone. There is a wrought iron door on the Castle that weighs over a ton.