Benjamin Ames Kimball

Gilford.

The conquest of Kimball's Castle is at hand.  Last night, the conversion of the abandoned 101-year-old curiosity with unbeatable views into a luxury hotel and restaurant passed its toughest municipal test.

By a vote of 3-1, the town Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a variance for the proposed developers of the castle, allowing them to build an addition up to 44 feet high, nine feet above the legal maximum.

With the zoning approval, developers Historic Inns of New England will now sign off on their contract with the town, which took ownership of the castle and the surrounding 300 acres after the last relative of the castle's builder, railroad magnate Benjamin Kimball, died in the 1960's.  Under the contract, the developers will take over the building and 20 acres in exchange for, among other things, maintaining the rest of the Kimball land and building parking lots for hikers.

In addition, the developers will be required to build a display about the castle's history in its lobby, which will be open to visitors to satisfy the mandate in Kimball's will that the castle be open to the public.

The developers, who previously converted the former Belknap College into the Red Hill Inn in Center Harbor, plan to build a four-story addition onto the south side of the castle and a new access road from Route 11.  There will be 40 guest rooms, priced at more than $200 per night each, and an 150-seat restaurant.

The board's approval culminates the developer's lengthy search for bureaucratic approval and financial backing.  In 1990, the town chose Historic Inns of New England to develop the property, but it wasn't until recently that the builders were able to find investors willing to take a chance on the Rhine-style castle.

Developer Don Leavitt told zoning board members that he could not find interested investors until he increased the number of guest rooms from 20 to 40.  It would be difficult to build 40 rooms without going over the permitted height limit of 35 feet, he said.  The steep grade of the land around the castle and the necessity of giving every guest a great view limited the possible space for an addition to a tight footprint, he argues, making a taller building the only viable business option.

"These people are going to be paying from $200 to $400 per night.  They are a clientele that doesn't come to the area now," Leavitt said.  "They are going to need to have the historic building right there and the great views."

The addition, which will be built with a pitched roof in a mountain chalet-type style, will slope downward from the castle and not rise above it in height.

William Morrison, the sold dissenting vote on the zoning board, didn't believe the developers' desire to build more rooms than originally planned amounted to the hardship required for a zoning variance.  Giving them a variance would set a poor precedent for the town as it tries to regulate other builders with grand schemes, he said.

"The town says it's 35 feet and that's the way it should be.  Maybe next you'll want to go to five stories," he said.  "We're just opening up (the ordinance) because somebody with commercial interests wants us to."

Several neighbors of the property spoke in favor of the variance, saying that it would move the conversion of the oft-vandalized building along.  "This way, the town can get rid of that liability," said neighbor Joan Veazey.

The developers would not say how soon after the contract signing they hope to start construction, since some peripheral zoning matters concerning the neighboring property owners still must be brought before the town.  But their lawyer, Doug Hill, joked that his daughter was 14, and he hoped to "have her wedding reception at the new hotel - though not too soon, of course."

©2004 Peter K Kimball