My husband and I had the very good fortune of joining our friends to spend some time at Gregoire castle. Despite seeing a few preliminary photos, nothing could have prepared us for the amazing sight of driving up to the front of the castle. It honestly felt like stepping back in time and the child in me couldn't help feeling like suiting up in armor and finding a dragon to slay.
The interior was just as impressive to behold, with all manner of little decorative details from shields, swords and helms, to period style furniture and accent pieces. The living space was nice and big with comfortable sofas and chairs, a tv close by and yes, even a round dining table for all your Arthurian dreams to come true. The kitchen was beautifully decorated and well stocked with all your basic necessities, including a dish washer (Thank you castle genie!), that is also where we found a gift basket full of treats awaited us.
The upstairs was beautiful and had a little interior and exterior balcony, it is also where the master suite was located. The basement had it's own cozy vibe, a game room and laundry facility (very useful ), as well as additional bedrooms and bathrooms. As silly as it is to say, the plumbing was fantastic, it took seconds for any temperature to switch from one extreme to the other, most places we have stayed at can often take several minutes especially, when it comes to waiting for hot water. This was not the case here, a nice little bonus.
The backyard was beautiful, with a lovely pond and fountains, fire pit , hot tub and barbecue. It was a great place to sit, relax, go for a run or simply enjoy the fire pit making smores. If you find you want to start up the barbecue or need some basic pantry items, there's a great little market( Ray's Market) not too far from the castle that sells it's own meat and baked goods, it became our go to place and is filled with very helpful and lovely people.
Irasburg itself is in a great location, 20 mins to Newport, Vt ( Pick and Shovel has everything!), 30-40 mins to St Johnsbury, VT which has dog mountain, galleries and some of the best ice cream next to Ben and Jerry's. An hour will get you to Montpelier which is the state capital and full of interesting places to kill time. There is no shortage of things to do in the area or at the castle itself.
All in all it was a wonderful place to visit, we had a fantastic time and we hope to some day come back for more possible adventures. Cheers!