The castle in Piermont, N.Y. has wonderful pedigree. It has been in the hands of only three families since it was built in the 1840s and has been owned and renovated by the most prominent families and architects of the day. The home was initially built for the first president of the Erie Railroad, Eleazar Lord, who built his castle home in Piermont because up until the time of the Civil War, Piermont was a major point of embarkation for goods shipped by rail from upstate New York to New York City. Goods would go by train to barges on the Hudson River to Manhattan. Piermont was also once the end point to the longest railroad in America, beginning in the 1840s. In 1890 Lord’s estate sold the castle to the Thaw family of Pittsburgh, who had made their fortune in steel. The Thaws hired the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to expand and redesign the home. About the time the work was completed in 1892 there was a tragedy in the family as their twin daughters died suddenly, and Thaw sold the home to his sister.Thompson’s daughter Dorethea remained in the house her entire life until her death in 1967. In 1968 the property was sold to the current owner, who has placed the estate on the market with Ellis Sotheby’s IR for $8,500,000.