Photos by Ethan Bell
Support Ingles Castle and explore iconic home
Heather Bell
RADFORD – The public has a chance to tour one of Radford’s most iconic homes this weekend and help out with its preservation at the same time.
A group of volunteers is hosting self-guided spooky tours of La Riviere, also known as Ingles Castle, located along the New River on the west side of Radford. The tours are set for this Friday and Saturday, from 6:30 – 10 p.m. each night. Groups of 10 will be able to take the tour every 15 minutes throughout the night. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased at inglescastle.com or on-site during the tour times (cash only for on-site purchases).
La Riviere is also known as the William Ingles House. It was built in 1892–1893 by Captain Billy Ingles, the great-grandson of Colonel William Ingles and Mary Draper Ingles, and is a two-story Queen Anne house. The tours are titled “Captain Billy’s Fevered Dreams,” and Joe Caldwell, acting manager of Ingles Castle, and Tyler McDaniel, one of the volunteers dedicated to its preservation, said the tours are not history tours; rather, they are fun spooky tours using creative license.
“Come see the Ingles Castle like you’ve never seen her before,” reads a description of the event on inglescastle.com. “Captain Billy’s mind and Castle have been overcome by the nightmares of his fevered dreams. Do you dare to read the pages? Do you dare to walk the halls?”
“This is not a historically accurate tour, but rather inspired by the imaginations of the Castle’s volunteers,” it continues. “The Castle is a historical property and is not handicapped accessible. This year’s tour includes the basement and attic which include steep stairs and low ceilings. The tour will also involve very low lighting and may not be appropriate for younger children or the faint of heart.”
Volunteer Becky Haupt will be acting in the famous “Lady in the Mirror” room. She said she can’t resist helping with the event as a lover of historic homes with a particular fondness for La Riviere.
“It’s fun, and this such a great building,” she said. “I just love it.”
This is the first year the turret attic will be part of the tour, and it is the third year for the tours. They were held for one year before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and then resumed last year. Money raised will go toward the repair of the home’s roof, said Caldwell.
“We were able to replace the porch roof with the money we raised last year, and we saved the slate from the porch roof so it can be used when we repair the main roof,” he said.
“The roof is currently still leaking, so that’s a major priority,” said McDaniel.
“Ingles Castle has been a landmark in the city of Radford for a long time,” said McDaniel. “We have a lot of people who have memories of the Ingles family or memories, you know, a long time ago coming through here. By restoring this place, we’re really give back to the community and get people down here to be able to experience it again.”
In addition to the tour fund-raiser, there is a Go Fund Me page to assist with the restoration.