Martin Castle, outside Lexington, Ky

The Martin Castle, also known as Post Castle and Versailles Castle 38°02′48″N 84°39′10″W / 38.04667°N 84.65278°W / 38.04667; -84.65278, is a castle in Kentucky, outside Lexington, near the Woodford County line. Construction on the castle was started by Rex Martin and his wife Caroline Bogaert Martin in 1969, after they had returned from a trip to Europe and were inspired by the architecture and many famous buildings they had seen. The finished project was to have seven bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms, a fountain in the driveway, and a tennis court. In 1975, the Martins divorced and left the castle unfinished. Over the years, it became a popular oddity and roadside photo-op for tourists. It had been for sale for many years at a price rumored to be more than 3 million dollars, and there had been talks that it would be turned into a medieval-themed restaurant or a museum.

On May 10, 2004, after months of renovations, newly installed woodwork and wiring caught fire in the main building. Tom Post, the castle's new owner, who was at his home in Miami at the time, had already spent months renovating it and vowed to rebuild. Approximately twice the castle's original cost has gone towards the reconstruction project. Post, an attorney from Miami, graduated from the University of Kentucky and plans to use the castle for charity fund raisers and other special events. His wife, M. Judith Donovan Post M.D., graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and is now a prominent Neuroradiologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital and Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. They have two children, Kathryn and Christopher, both recent graduates of Cornell University.

Reconstruction has started on the castle and will probably be finished by the summer of 2008 - the castle is scheduled to open in fall 2008. New additions include twelve luxury suites, a library, game room, music room, dining hall, ball room, swimming pool, formal garden and tennis court. It will be used primarily for fund raisers, but will also be available for weddings, special events, and corporate functions. The Castle is open as a tourist inn.^[1] It has sixteen bedrooms, four of which are in the outside turrets.

[edit] External links

• Martin Castle
• Official site
• Internal pics before fire

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