The Boldt Yacht House

The Boldt Yacht House is the most under-visited part of a Boldt Castle trip, and the reason is a simple misunderstanding about geography and cost.

It is on a different island — and the boat is free

The Yacht House is not on Heart Island. It stands across the water on Wellesley Island, and a free shuttle boat runs between the two.

That word — free — is what people miss. Visitors see a separate building on a separate island and assume a second crossing to pay for, so they skip it.

What it costs

Bought together, the Yacht House adds $3.00 to an adult castle ticket instead of $8.50. For a child it adds nothing at all — the combination is the same $10.00 as the castle alone.

What is inside

The Yacht House was built to hold the Boldt family’s yachts and their houseboat, in slips 128 feet long, with towering bay doors onto the river and a shop that built racing launches. The building rises 64 feet, in shingle-style architecture with spires and steep-pitched gables — Gilded Age domestic engineering rather than a folly.

Inside is a collection of antique wooden boats, some from the original Boldt fleet, shown courtesy of the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton. The steam yacht Kestrel is among them. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and first opened to the public in the summer of 1996.

Whether to do it

If your crossing gives you three hours or more on the islands, yes — $3.00 and a free boat ride for a National Register building is not a close call. If you are on a tight cruise stopover from the Canadian side, the castle alone will fill the time, and the combination ticket would be $3.00 wasted. Check how long your boat gives you ashore before you buy at the booth.