Horribly FABULOUS!: Madame Antoinette Sherri...and her Castle

While Surfing the web today, I came across the fabulous Madame Antoinette Sherri...
(She was my kinda gal!)
There was not a ton of information about her...but this is what I found....ENJOY!
(My imagination went crazy!)

"Visitors to Chesterfield, New Hampshire, just northeast of Brattleboro, can hike into the 513-acre Madame Sherri Forest to see an impressive stone staircase, which, together with a foundation and several chimneys is all that remains of a once lavish estate that was the focus of local gossip in the 1930s and ‘40s.

Begun in 1929, abandoned in 1946, and destroyed by fire in 1962, the castle only had one owner: an eccentric costume designer known as Madame Sherri.

It’s difficult to separate fact from legend, but Madame Sherri was apparently born Antoinette Bremare in France in 1878. By the time she reached her 30s, she was already known on the Paris stage as Antoinette del Lilas, and it was through the theatre that she met American Antony Macalusco, better known as Andre Riela.

They married and took the White Star Oceanic to New York in 1911, where a newspaper article — which downgraded her age to 29 – reported some sort of blowup on arrival between Antoinette and her new mother-in-law. According to the story, Riela had gone to Paris to follow in his father’s footsteps and train as a diplomat. After meeting Antoinette, he claimed to have abandoned his studies and won 160,000 francs in Monte Carlo in order to woo her properly.

Given that Andre Riela went almost immediately into a career in the theatre upon his return to New York, the article seems to have been a publicity stunt. The couple styled themselves Madame and Andre Sherri, and Antoinette opened a theatrical costuming shop while Andre wrote musicals and designed costumes for stage plays. At some point, they hired Charles LeMaire, a vaudevillian turned costume designer who went on to earn an Oscar for his work with Edith Head on All About Eve. The trio became known for their designs, particularly in theatrical reviews like the Ziegfeld Follies.

Then, in 1924, something went terribly wrong. Andre Sherri died in Manhattan State Hospital of “general paralysis of the insane,” having apparently also gone blind. He was 35 years old. While it’s impossible to know exactly what killed Andre, syphilis and bathtub gin were both floated as possible causes. In any event, his sudden death had a powerful impact on Antoinette. She began spending her summers at a notorious party house in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire.

In 1929, she purchased a small farmhouse on the side of Rattlesnake Mountain and began buying up adjoining acreage. For the 17 years she remained in New Hampshire, that farmhouse was her primarily residence, and, by all accounts, it was a squalid place. With no electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing, the house was crammed with memorabilia from her life in New York, leaving little room to move around.

But while the farmhouse apparently suited Antoinette’s daily needs, it would not do for entertaining, so, in 1931, she began work on a lavish castle. Much to the consternation of local workmen, she was involved in every aspect of construction – apparently badgering many artisans until they quit.

She did much of this, it was said, in a floor-length fur coat and nothing else.

Part French chateau/part Roman palace, the castle featured a striking central stone staircase (which stands to this day), a massive second floor balcony, a pond circling a statue of Aphrodite, and an old tree that grew straight up into the living room. Floors were covered with fur rugs, and portraits of celebrities hung on the walls. Guest bathrooms were lined with mirrors, and gold Buddhas were placed here and there. Unlike the farmhouse, the castle was wired for electricity, and a quarter-mile of copper piping brought water down from the mountain.

During parties at the castle, Antoinette would hold court in a cobra-backed chair she called the Queen’s Throne, chain smoking cigarettes as she watched her guests. During the day, she would employ a chauffeur to drive her around Chesterfield in a Packard, often with a pet monkey perched on her shoulder.

Antoinette continually scandalized the locals with her clothing (or lack of it), her behavior, and her house guests. One story tells of a woman named Tony who drove the Packard into town one day dressed in a man’s suit. When stopped by the local police chief, she began swearing and then refused an order to pull into the nearby police station lot, setting the emergency break. Furious, the chief ordered an approaching dump truck to push the Packard into the lot. During the process, Tony sat behind the wheel, cursing a blue streak.

It’s not entirely clear where Madame Sherry’s money came from, although she was at least partially funded by Charles LeMaire, whom she had adopted. By the 1940s though, she had slowed her entertaining considerably, and she apparently it increasingly hard to cope with the New Hampshire winters.

In 1946 she moved back to New York, effectively abandoning the castle, which quickly fell into disrepair. She returned sporadically and once tried to persuade some friends to move with her back to the farm house and care for her. When they saw the state of the property, they declined.

By 1959, Antoinette was destitute and living in a boarding house in nearby Brattleboro as a ward of the state of New Hampshire. The castle had been heavily vandalized, and Antoinette was under pressure to sell the property to offset the cost of her care. When asked why she didn’t turn to her old New York friends for assistance, she claimed that she didn’t want anyone to know what had become of Madame Sherri.

In 1962, the castle was burned to the ground, either from a bonfire that grew out of control or a neighbor frustrated by the derelict property, which had become a gathering place for local teenagers. When told about the fire, Antoinette was apparently more interested in whether news reports mentioned her than in the loss of her once beloved party palace. She died three years later, at the age of 87.

The castle ruins now sit in a public park called Madame Sherri’s Forest.

Over the years, visitors have reported a number of strange experiences in the park. Some hear music and party sounds emanating from the castle ruins. Others claim to have seen an apparition in an elaborate costume slowly descending the central staircase. Has Madame Sherri returned to oversee yet another lavish party?

If you’re interested in learning more about Madame Sherri and the castle, check out Madame Sherri by Eric Stanway. Or, if you’re going to be in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, and would like to visit, you can find information and directions from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests."

(from 'Walking With Dead People')

Here are pictures I found on the web....