Castle Mona (Douglas)
Description: The Castle Mona overlooks Douglas Bay on the east coast of the Isle of Man (NGR 23860 47683). Brown's Popular Guide to the Isle of Man of 1876 says, "...and still further northwards the hill sides sweeping up from the shore are overhung with wood of the darkest, thickest verdure, forming a beautiful background for that grey, square, massive, yet unpretending modern house - the Castle Mona Hotel. That house has a history. It was built at a great cost by the last of the princes of Man, the Duke of Athol. (p.15) and "Arrived at Castle Mona, we cannot fail to be struck with the substantial character of the building, a magnificent mansion erected by the last Lord of Man, at a cost of £40,000, the cost being much increased by the carriage of the stone, which came from the Isle of Arran." (p.67) Brown's Popular Guide to the Isle of Man of 1900 says, "...the unique pile of Castle Mona, once the palace of the last Lord of the Isle of the Derby-Athol line, and now a first-class residential hotel." (p.61)