Glen Eyrie is an English Tudor-style castle built in 1871 by General William Jackson Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs. There are 17 guest rooms in the castle, as well as 7 meeting rooms including the Castle Great Hall and 2 dining rooms. This house was his and his wife's dream home, and is near Colorado Springs in the northwest foothills just north of the Garden of the Gods rock formations. After building a large carriage house where the family lived for a time, Palmer and his wife Mary "Queen" Mellen built a 22-room frame house on the 800-acre estate. This house was remodeled in 1881 to include a tower and additional rooms, and made to resemble a stone castle in 1903, reminiscent of those native to England.
Queen Palmer, at age 21, opened the first public school in Colorado Springs in November 1871. The Palmers had three daughters, Elsie, Dorothy, and Marjory.
In 1880, Mrs. Palmer suffered a mild heart attack and was advised to move to a lower altitude. She and the girls moved to the East Coast and then to England where General Palmer visited them as often as he could. Queen died on December 27, 1894, at the age of 44.