Curator Robin Sherman preserves a castle's past

MOULTONBOROUGH — When Robin Sherman took a tour of Castle in the Clouds as a child, she could not have imagined that one day she would be director of preservation of the historic estate. Sherman has a fascinating job that takes her back to the days of castle owner Thomas Plant.

Wealthy Plant made his fortune in the shoe industry and hired skilled craftspeople to build his dream home atop a mountain in Moultonborough. He named it Lucknow, it was later called Castle in the Clouds, and was completed around 1914.

Plant and his wife, Olive, resided at Lucknow year-round. They likely did not think of it as a castle, but rather a home. Unfortunately, Plant’s wealth dissolved after a time due to bad investments. They were allowed to live in the home until Plant passed away, at which time Olive moved out of state to be closer to her family.

Over the years, Castle in the Clouds has had several owners and today is operated by the Castle Preservation Society, a nonprofit group working to ensure the estate is maintained.

Acting as curator of the historic estate is a big job and one Sherman is deeply involved in every day. She said, “I did my undergrad at University of New Hampshire, where I majored in history and minored in classics and anthropology. After I graduated, I worked in contract archaeology for a few years. That’s when I realized I enjoyed working with artifacts and was interested in preservation. There’s so much we can learn from everyday pieces of the past. I decided to go back to school and got my master's in public history, focusing on museum work, from the University of Colorado at Denver.”

Sherman recalled, “I started at the castle fresh out of grad school in 2016. It was my first non-internship, museum position. I’ve been the curator since 2018 and the director of preservation since January of this year.

“CPS was formed to preserve, interpret, and share the historic site with the public. We work in partnership with the Lakes Region Conservation Trust to ensure protection of much of the original Lucknow estate.”

Identifying areas of the estate that need attention takes training and a love for the past. Castle in the Clouds offers a good dose of history and how a wealthy family once lived on the property. When the Plants resided at Lucknow, the property spanned 6,300 acres and featured the 16-room arts and crafts mansion, stable and six-car garage, two gatehouses, a greenhouse, a golf course and tennis court, a man-made lake, a boathouse on Lake Winnipesaukee, and carriage and bridle trails.

At the time Sherman started her job as curator, CPS was restoring the castle and actively making property upgrades to improve the visitor experience. Sherman laughs when asked if the preservation work is done. “There’s always room to grow and improve.”

Remembering the start of her job as curator, Sherman says, “There were certainly rooms that needed attention, including the library, the basement, and guest rooms, for instance. CPS has a project priority list which we have been working on for over a decade, with the most serious concerns addressed well before I started. We really owe a debt of gratitude to all the previous owners for what they did to take care of the property.”

Like all older homes, castle projects are never-ending. “We often write for grants to help fund our restoration work. We also rely on funds from individual donors to help support that work,” Sherman explained.

“Being curator at Castle in the Clouds is probably unlike being the curator at any other museum. I don’t just work with collections or create exhibits. I get to do that, but I have a unique opportunity to be involved in so much more here,” Sherman said, standing on the lawn of the castle with its views of the lakes and mountains. “I develop new tours and find new ways to share information with our visitors. I am hands-on with the restoration work, and I do research and learn more about this property. There’s certainly always a project to keep me busy around here.”

To successfully complete projects at the castle, Sherman relies on the past to steer her to an authentic result. She explained, “In the late 1910s, the Plants commissioned photographer George Perry to take photographs of Lucknow estate. These were eventually used in real estate advertisements when the Plants were trying to sell the property. These photographs are one of the most valuable resources we have. They show us how the Plants decorated, what furniture they had, right down, in some cases, to what books and magazines they enjoyed. It allows us to faithfully replicate the appearance of those rooms for which we have photographs.”

Learning about how people lived at the time the Plants resided at the Castle is like solving a mystery. “One of the exciting things about my job is the element of investigation that restoration projects demand. We start by looking at the documentary evidence – sometimes that’s historic photos, remembrances from past occupants, letters, and correspondence. Then we look for physical evidence. We look for scraps of original wallpaper or traces of paint hidden below the modern layers that we then use to find an appropriate example to re-create the right look. We work with contractors who are familiar with the preservation guidelines these projects must follow. Some of the contractors on our preservation team have been working on the Lucknow mansion for 10 or more years," Sherman said.

Many completed projects are now there for visitors to see on castle tours. Sherman explained, “To date, we have restored most of the mansion’s exterior: repointing stone, repairing, and replacing timbers, and conserving windows. Inside the mansion there are only a few rooms that have not been touched. Our most recent projects have been the library and guest rooms in the north tower. In 2017, we had a lot of conservation work done in the basement to clean up and stabilize original mechanical systems like the central vacuum and refrigeration motor room. Focusing on that area of the mansion allowed us to develop our guided basement tour, which we’ve been offering since 2019.

“Our next project, set to start this year, is the restoration of Maple Lodge’s exterior. It is the small, stone gatehouse at the top of Ossipee Park Road.”

One cannot wonder what Thomas Plant would have turned to next had he not lost his fortune. Sherman surmised, “When he had the funds, Tom Plant built Bald Peak, as well as the Plant Memorial Home in Bath. If he had maintained the same level of wealth throughout his life, he would have found new projects to occupy his time. It’s hard to say what those might have been.”

Sherman worked on a new exhibit, now on view in the castle’s Carriage House. Titled True Women, the show is a collaboration between Sherman and former programs coordinator Mackenzie Padula.

“We wanted to delve into what society expected from women at that time and how women fought to change those expectations. It was a lot of fun to be able to bring in historic photos and direct visitors interested in learning more to some wonderful resources like the Library of Congress’ virtual exhibition on women’s suffrage,” Sherman said. Olive Plant, among other women, is featured in the exhibit.

With so many projects at Castle in the Clouds, Sherman enjoys her position as curator and director of preservation. “One of my biggest goals is to continue to improve accessibility across our site so we can be place that is a resource for everyone.”

Castle in the Clouds is located at 455 Old Mountain Road. To learn more, visit castleintheclouds.org or call 603-476-5900.