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One of the most beautiful historic luxury homes in Stamford Connecticut is Marion Castle, built in 1914 by Frank Marion, one of the early pioneers of cinema. This impressive waterfront Neo-French Renaissance castle at One Rogers Road, Shippan Point exemplifies the era of Stamford’s rise in the early 1900s from a farming community to the year-round residences of wealthy New York families.
Marion Castle was built by one of the first true movie moguls, Frank Marion, whose Kalem Company produced some of the first reels to be shown in Nickelodeon and silent movie theaters across the country. His first big hit was Ben Hur in 1907, which lasted fifteen minutes and focused mainly on chariot racing. The film was shot on the beach with firefighters as actors using the horses that would normally pull the fire trucks that pulled the carts.
Ben Hur was one of the most popular novels of its day, and the film was an immediate success. Frank Marion proved not only a good businessman but also a socially conscious man when he increased the daily wage for actors to $5 a day, forcing the rest of the emerging film industry to follow suit.
However, Marion was at the forefront of what was at the time the emerging technology of his day. The publisher and estate of the author of Ben Hur took the company all the way to the US Supreme Court and established the first copyright precedent that although the film only focused on the chariot race that was a very brief part of the book, film producers must first obtain the rights to the printed work before they can produce a film based on that work.
Undaunted, Marion’s Kalem company then made cinematic history by sending a crew to Ireland in 1910 to make what was the first American film shot on location outside the United States. Two years later, he sent a camera crew to Palestine, where From the Manger to the Cross was filmed.
These films were very successful, he sold the company after ten years in the film business and built Marion Castle as his retirement home for the enjoyment of his wife, son and four daughters.
Marion Castle was designed in the style of a French Renaissance chateau by the prominent New York City-based architectural firm Hunt & Hunt, which had made this style very popular on Fifth Avenue at the turn of the century. The Castle of Marion is a combination of several castles in the Loire Valley.
It features a steep slate roof with copper cresting that rises above the main body of the mansion. The façade has large sloping ceiling windows with high pediments bordered by finials. A gabled wing facing the sea side has a large triple mullioned window and transom bars and steps leading down to the drop.
On the north side of the house, a long half-timbered bay projects from the main wall and leads to a circular tower giving it its distinctive ‘castle’ appearance. The interior includes a main hall with balconies and almost thirty additional rooms of various sizes and uses.
Frank Marion built and occupied Marion Castle until his death at age 93 in 1963. The property was then sold to Martha and David Cogan, an inventor and leading developer of radio and television who helped develop the first tube of color TV. Martha was widely recognized and respected for saving many children from Hitler during World War II.
In 1978, Jay Kobrin and Gordon Micunis purchased Marion Castle and were highly influential in placing it on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, the only structure in Stamford’s Shippan Point to be listed on the Register.
Since 1998, Marion Castle has been owned and occupied by Thomas L. Rich, a well-known Stamford property developer. Mr. Rich has allowed the house to be used extensively for non-profit events such as the Shippan Point Association’s annual community party.
Today, Frank Marion’s beautiful historic waterfront luxury home is one of Stamford CT’s most distinctive landmarks. Having been owned by several innovative, civic-minded entrepreneurs, Marion Castle continues to be the focal point for many of the city’s important social and community events.