Did you know about the miniature castles in South Hero? I had no idea until I came across a few pictures and started to research these castles made by Harry Barber in South Hero. Now here is a tale I hadn’t heard before. I was surprised by how little information I could find on these cool and tiny castles in Vermont and the man who built them. In fact, no two accounts are the same, which makes the tale that much more intriguing. Because there is not much documented, I have pieced together different accounts I’ve come across, largely from Geocashing, Lake Champlain Bikeways and Urbanpostmortem. While I can’t say these accounts are 100% accurate because they are a compilation of several different accounts, I welcome any and all comments that give us a little more information on the wonderful Harry Barber castles of South Hero.

For decades, gardener Harry Barber found a unique way to blend his native country of Switzerland with his new home in Vermont. He created miniature buildings from local Vermont field stone. Five castles, three houses, and several garden structures remain in the islands and they vary in complexity.

Some castles feature glazed windows, interior fireplaces, or dungeons. Others are wired for electricity and have the capability of running water in the moat. Many of his creations are on private property but some may be seen from the road. A few structures have sadly been dismantled and discarded as piles of rubble.

Harry Barber was born and raised in Switzerland. As he traveled his homeland and Bavaria he was attracted to the designs and shapes of the castles including Swan Mt. Castle. In the 1920s he was injured in a mining accident and received some sort of monetary settlement from the government.

Some accounts say that Barber decided to travel to the Americas and landed in New York and made his way up north to South Hero. Another livelier tale tells that Barber’s original plan was to go to Chile, South America. Before leaving he spent a night partying in Marseilles, France, and when he woke the next morning, he had been robbed of his money. He then worked for his fare abroad on a freighter which took him to Montreal, Canada.

We do know that when Barber reached Grand Isle he met and married a local girl and caretaker. Where and how he met his wife-to-be I’m not sure, but one account says he met her upon arriving hungry in South Hero and a local girl at a fruit stand who offered him an orange and showed him how to peel this mysterious fruit. He was impressed by the hospitality of the young woman, and decided to stay for a while, and eventually married her.

Barber stayed in the area and worked many jobs, and when he returned from work each evening, he would pick up stones to bring home to use for masonry. Between the 1920s and 1966, Harry worked several jobs, but his true love was for the castles he had seen back home, and he used these stones to build many miniature stone castle masterpieces.

He was commissioned to build these by both locals and the wealthy, some of which were lighted garden fountains, yet there is no account of how much Barber was paid for his work. They became a sort of currency as the townsfolk used his castles to barter. It is said that one person offered a neighboring bed and breakfast one of the castles in return for free trash removal service. The castle was later moved to the inn’s property where it rests today.

Sadly, Henry Barber committed suicide in 1966 at the age of 66. Most say they don’t know what drove Barber to take his own life, but one legend goes like this: Proud of his craftsmanship, Barber decided to try to get one of his castles displayed at the nearby museum. He relentlessly contacted the museum owner for several days and the owner became increasingly annoyed by his loitering. He was told they were not interested in his work, which Barber took very hard. After being told this he went home and committed suicide.

Many of Barber’s original castles can still be seen scattered around South Hero today. The number of structures he built is unknown, but it is said that he built 7 of these tiny castles in Vermont, one can be found as far away as mainland Milton.

Some of the castles standing today are on private property, while others are hidden behind other obstructions such as plants. There are still a few structures visible from the road, and are easy to photograph.

As far as legends in Vermont go, these tiny castles in Vermont are certainly fun and quirky. Did you know about Harry Barber and the miniature castles of South Hero? If you know more about these stories please leave a comment – we’d love to piece together more of the story as well as confirm facts and debunk rumors. Be sure to like and share this post and check back on the comments to see what more we can learn about this fascinating and talented man and his tiny castles in Vermont.

Which other quirky places in Vermont have you visited? Let us know below.