Curwood Castle

Built in 1922 in Owosso, Michigan, by author James Oliver Curwood as his writing studio, the castle is now open as a museum of his life and writing and his conservation efforts. I had first discovered the castle over a year ago (on a Monday when it’s not open!) and have been wanting to get back to see the inside.  

Such a cool place!
My young sidekick helped me push open the heavy wooden door as it creaked and groaned in protest… and we stepped into our adventure.

We perused the bookshelves filled with Curwood books.

We marveled over photos and stories.


So many stories…
33 adventure novels 

and countless articles

As we wandered around the large room on the main floor, we were careful not to bother the brown bear on the floor.

We sat at the big desk and thought about how many words had been written there and we wrote a few words of our own.

We climbed the narrow winding steps into the tower and found another writing desk between little port holes overlooking the river below.  

And then even more steps to the top floor of the tower with lovely tall windows all around the room.  I think this would have been my favorite writing spot.

We decided to check out the basement where we were discovered that many of Curwood’s stories had been made into movies.  In fact, we got there in time to watch a really exciting part of “The Bear.” 

It seems that James Curwood had been an avid trophy hunter in his early years until he had his own personal encounter with a wounded bear who let him live - after which he became a passionate conservationist and began writing from that new perspective.

“The greatest thrill is not to kill but to let live.”

 - James Oliver Curwood

Our adventure made us hungry so we went outside and found a lovely peaceful spot by the river for a little picnic.

What a great adventure!

...

Photo cred to Bob Sims at SimsShots Photography for the cover shot at the top of this article.