Historic Walking Tours of Narragansett Pier
Treasures Ocean Road Map
Left: Irving H. Chase Family Memorial Collection (SCM) (This image also appears on a card postdated in 1906.)
Right: SCM photo-jet 2010
Hazard Castle
333 Ocean Road
Hazard Castle 1846-1849, 1884: This is a large, rambling, 2½-story stone dwelling with gable-roofed
ells, conical-roofed polygonal towers, and a square, stone tower with battered walls and a battle-
mented parapet, It is set on more than 38 acres on Ocean Road. The building was begun in 1846 as
the main house for Joseph Peace Hazard’s Seaside Farm and was supposedly modeled after an
abbey which Hazard had seen in England. The tower, which is 105 feet tall, is an important
local landmark, dedicated to the memory of Hazard’s ancestors. It was completed in 1884.
The property was purchased by the Providence Catholic Diocese from the Hazard family in 1951.
Hazard was a spiritualist and originally planned the tower as a platform from which he could more easily
communicate with the spirit world. Hazard’s Castle was apparently altered in the early 20th century
by the addition of some Tudor-style elements. The structure now houses Middlebridge School, a private
boarding school for children with learning difficulties. A large, two-story, flat-roofed brick wing has been
added to the south side.
Several other structures including a barn, a quaint brick garage,
and shingled residence housing two guest apartments also are
on the property. Adjacent to the Castle is a 21,000-square-foot
retreat center with a full cafeteria, meeting space and chapel,
which served for years as the home of the Our Lady of Peace
Spiritual Center. This part of the property was sold in 2014 to
Teach a Man to Fish Foundation, a nonprofit based in Orange,
Calif. Specimen trees planted in a grid formation, stone walls,
and meadows complement the pastoral setting.
Edward Cormier Postcard Collection (SCM)