Atalaya Castle (US)

**Atalaya Castle**
	; Ocean front view
Completion Date:	1933
Last used as residence:	1947
Designed by:	Acher Huntington
Number of rooms:	30
Purpose:	Winter home for the Huntingtons and sculpture studio for Anna Hyatt Huntington

History

Atalaya Castle stands as a monument to the creativity and generosity of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington. Archer M. Huntington was a noted scholar of Spanish culture and art and modeled the couple's winter home in the style of the Moorish architecture of the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

Atalaya was built near the ocean in South Carolina in what is now Huntington Beach State Park. The 200 foot by 200 foot masonry structure was built from 1931 to 1933. Local labor was used at Mr. Huntington's insistence to provide work for a community hard hit by the Great Depression.

Atalaya (AH-tuh-lie-yuh) means "watch tower" in Spanish. The house is dominated by a square tower (which was used as water tank) that rises nearly 40 feet from a covered walkway that bisects the inner court.

The living quarters consists of 30 rooms around three sides of the perimeter, while the studio, with it's 25-foot skylight, opens onto a small, enclosed courtyard where Anna Hyatt Huntington worked on her sculptures.

Because she liked sculpting with live animals as models, horse stables, a dog kennel and bear pens were included. The building also features hand-wrought iron grillwork designed by Mrs. Huntington, and shutters to protect against hurricane winds.

The inner walls of the main courtyard were covered with creeping fig vines. Sabal palmettos, the South Carolina state tree, and other palms help make the courtyard a picturesque, unique setting.

The Huntingtons last used Atalaya as their winter home in 1947. Most of the furnishings were sent to New York City after Mr. Huntington's death in 1955. The studio equipment was moved to the new studio at Brookgreen Gardens just across U.S. 17.

The 2,500-acre tract was leased to the state in 1960 for use as a state park. Mrs. Huntington died in 1973.

Visitors to Huntington Beach State Park are free to walk through Atalaya.

The annual Atalaya Arts and Crafts Festival is held each year in late September.