In Episode 381 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the ruins of Madame Sherri’s castle in the woods of Chesterfield, New Hampshire. Built in the early 1930s, this gorgeous home was the site for some wild parties of New York City socialites who came up to the Madame Sherri’s secluded woods to let their hair down. Ever the eccentric, there were rumors that “Madame” may have also been Sherri’s occupation. The house burned down to the stonework in 1962, and today they say the grounds are haunted.
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[HIKING IN WOODS]
RAY: I noticed the sign when we parked. They call this place Madam Sherri Forest?
JEFF: They do. Named after the former owner who built a castle out here.
RAY: Madame Sherri, I assume?
JEFF: That’s her. And many believe “Madame” wasn’t just a nod to her status, but maybe also her professions.
RAY: Ohhhhh how scandalous!
JEFF: She was eccentric, that’s for sure. And she left a mark, especially on this southwestern New Hampshire community.
RAY: We’ve explored eccentrics before. Leaving a mark behind is what they do best.
JEFF: And there it is! The ruins of her castle.
RAY: Wow! There’s a stone stairway that goes up in an arc before it crumbles to debris below. And I can see a huge stone foundation beyond that.
JEFF: This is what we’ve come to see, Ray. Madame Sherri’s Castle Ruins… because they say this place… is haunted.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger, and welcome to Episode 381 of the New England Legends podcast. Thank you for riding along with us as we chronicle every legend in New England one story at a time. We can’t do it without you! We appreciate all of the story leads you send to us through our website. Please keep them coming.
JEFF: And we’d appreciate you joining us for our annual Zombie Prom coming up Saturday, February, 22nd in Milford, Massachusetts! All proceeds go to benefit Community Harvest Project. This event is always such a blast! Come dressed as a zombie, zombie hunter, or just wear your regular clothes and be a victim. You can find a link to buy tickets in our episode description or our website.
RAY: We’ll explore the haunted ruins of Madame Sherri’s castle right after this word from our sponsor.
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RAY: So we’re standing in the woods of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, in front of some stone ruins.
JEFF: We are.
RAY: I mentioned the stone stairway that’s crumbled. There’s also a large stone foundation behind that. I guess that’s where the house used to be?
JEFF: It was. There was a time when some crazy parties were thrown out this way. No one is exactly sure what kind of shenanigans they got up to on this property, but there’s stories that these grounds are haunted by echoes of that wild past.
RAY: Here’s a little more background on the town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire. The town sits in the southwestern corner of the state and borders Vermont. When the town was established in 1735 it was still part of Massachusetts. It’s a small town. Just over 3,500 residents today.
JEFF: But there was a time when this place was hopping with summer soirees thrown by Madame Sherri. So grab your dancin’ shoes, Ray. And let’s head back to 1932 to meet Madame Sherri.
[TRANSITION]
[SWING JAZZ MUSIC]
RAY: It’s July of 1932 here at Madame Sherri’s castle in the woods of Chesterfield. Though America is only a few years into the Great Depression, which is anything but great for most of us, you wouldn’t know it here at Madame Sherri’s!
JEFF: No you wouldn’t. This party is swinging! There are some really attractive people here, too. And a few notable celebrities from Broadway.
RAY: I thought I recognized him over there!
JEFF: A lot of the guests have come in from New York City. Out here in the woods in this spacious home is the perfect place to let your hair down away from the many eyes of New York.
RAY: I can imagine this would be a nice getaway for socialites from the city. I guess Madame Sherri knows a lot of people down there.
JEFF: She does. A lot of them. Here’s a little more background on Madame Sherri. She was born in France in 1878 where her parents named her Antoinette Bramare. At a young age she learned to be a seamstress but also worked as a Cabaret singer in some of the French clubs. In 1909, she met her husband, an American named Anthony Macaluso. Rumors are he was a fugitive, which is why he went by the name, Andre Riela. The two were married, then made their way to New York in 1911, and that’s when Antoinette changed her name to Sherri. The couple began designing costumes for Broadway. They called their company “House of Sherri.”
RAY: For the next 16 years, the couple mixed and mingled with all of the people that Broadway had to offer. Sherri made a name for herself designing elaborate costumes for the Siegfried Follies among other shows. She met and worked with some talented actors and directors, but also some of the shadier characters drawn to that industry. But that’s showbiz.
JEFF: There’s no business like it. Sadly, in 1927, Andre Riela died. Some suggested the cause was alcohol poisoning from some bootlegged liquor, others suggest it was syphilis. Either way, Sherri was left widowed and devastated.
RAY: During the summer of 27’, Sherri came to visit some friends who summered in Chesterfield. That’s when she fell in love with the region. She bought a small farmhouse on the side of Rattlesnake Mountain, and then began buying up hundreds of acres of land just off of Gulf Road.
JEFF: Sherri had some big ideas about building a place for her New York City friends to come visit and play out in the woods where newspaper reporters and the public wouldn’t be watching. The only problem was her little farmhouse. This simple and small place would never do to entertain so…
[SOUND OF HAMMERING AND SAWING]
JEFF: Madame Sherri hired a crew to construct her dream castle.
RAY: Sherri made her workers nuts, too. She had no plans or blueprints. She’d just point and say what she wanted built. She was always hovering, asking for changes so many times that some of them quit. But eventually, a mansion took shape.
JEFF: When it was finished, there was a stunning stone staircase that wound its way to the main entrance. Gorgeous stonework, ornate windows and woodwork. It looks every bit the castle. Lynne Borofsky said of the mansion, quote, “It’s a theatrical French chateau of New Hampshire stone, wreathed in Roman arches and crowned with a chalet roof. An imposing stone staircase—grand enough for a Follies stage set—it’s adorned with stone flower boxes with red and white flowers earning the name ‘Primrose Path.’ The main stairs, cut into the rock ledge, leading to a massive red front door.”
[SWING JAZZ MUSIC FADES BACK IN]
RAY: Yes, this mansion really is something to see. And as we said before, this party is jumpin’! There’s a band playing in the corner. And though we’re still in the middle of Prohibition, you wouldn’t know it here. (BEAT AWAY FROM MIC) Sure, I’ll take two of those. Here you go Jeff, cheers!
[CLINK GLASSES]
JEFF: Cheers! Everyone here is having a great time. And check out the outfit on Madame Sherri! It looks like one of her Broadway costumes. And looking around, wow, there are some beautiful people here. There are a lot of attractive young women and men. I guess most of them came up from New York and are staying here for a few days.
RAY: Okay, I’ve been mingling with some of the more local guests and have learned a LOT about our host, Madame Sherri.
JEFF: What did you hear?
RAY: Though she owns this beautiful house, she doesn’t live here.
JEFF: She doesn’t?
RAY: No. She still lives in that little farmhouse just down the road.
JEFF: Why wouldn’t she live here? That farmhouse doesn’t have much inside by way of modern convenience.
RAY: I don’t know. Maybe because some are implying this place is more of a business than a residence.
JEFF: What business are you talk… Ohhhhhhh. Wait a minute.
RAY: Uh huh.
JEFF: So maybe some of these beautiful people from New York are… uhhhm… hired help?
RAY: That’s what some are saying.
JEFF: How scandalous!
RAY: That’s not all.
JEFF: What else did you hear?
RAY: When Madame Sherri does head into downtown Chesterfield, she’s often wearing a mink coat—even when it’s not that cold. Some suggest she’s naked under that coat. She’s flashy. She likes all eyes on her. While that may be fine in New York City, in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, they’re a little more conservative than that, thank you very much.
JEFF: Each summer these parties rage in the woods well into the morning hours. The rumors continued to swirl, but then again, locals also stay out of each other’s business. So Madame Sherri is mostly left alone despite her eccentricities.
RAY: At these parties it’s clear Madame Sherri is the Queen. The most lavishly dressed. She’s in her element.
[MUSIC FADES OUT SLOWLY]
JEFF: By the mid-1940s, Madame Sherri is running out of money. She can no longer afford to keep her house in Chesterfield. Now in her late 60s, she finds herself broke. She moves to Vermont where she relies on friends for food and shelter. After being gone more than a decade, she made a return to her castle in 1959 only to find that left unattended, vandals had trashed the place.
[BURNING FIRE SOUNDS FADE IN]
RAY: It’s October of 1962 when a mysterious fire burns Madame Sherri’s former castle to the ground. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: On October 20, 1965, Madame Sherri’s former property was sold to a private owner. It was that same day that Madame Sherri died penniless in a Vermont nursing home. Madame Sherri was 87 years old when she passed. But that’s not the end of the story.
RAY: No?
JEFF: After her former castle burned to the ground, all that was left was the stone work, including that grand stone staircase. A staircase that led to nowhere. It was eerie. Spooky. Out here in the woods. Some people claim they see the ghost of Madame Sherri standing at the top of those staircase waiting to greet her guests for one of her wild parties.
RAY: Walking around I can see the foundation of the old fireplace, you can walk into what used to be a basement or root cellar of some kind. And there are stone pillars marking where sections of the house once stood.
JEFF: As we walk around these grounds you do get the sense of invading someone’s home to a degree. It’s not too hard to imagine what those parties must have been like all those years ago. Out here in the woods, away from watchful eyes. Anything could go.
RAY: Yes it could. Back in 2021, a big section of the staircase collapsed leaving more stone ruins on the ground.
JEFF: Yes, that was unfortunate. The first time I came here it was mostly intact, and there was nothing stopping you from climbing it. I mean, besides common sense. I’m not a structural engineer, but even I could see it didn’t look that sturdy. I had no intention of becoming the next ghost to haunt these grounds.
RAY: (LAUGHING) Yeah, this place doesn’t need anymore ghostly help.
JEFF: As the sun starts to set it’s easy to imagine what this property must have been like all those years ago. Maybe that’s part of the haunting. We put ourselves literally in the place, and we connect to the time, and suddenly the idea of Madame Sherri’s ghost looking over the castle where she was once queen doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
[OUTRO]
RAY: No it doesn’t. And that takes us to After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
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To see some pictures of Madame Sherri, her former castle, and the modern-day ruins, click on the link in our episode description or go to our web site and click on episode 381.
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We’d like to thank our sponsors, thank you to our patreon patrons, and our theme music is by John Judd.
Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.