On Heart Island, the most desirable orientation was toward the main channel on the southwest side and the village of Alexandria Bay on the United States mainland. Following the layout of the original Hart cottage, the Boldts designed the new castle with its major views and entrances facing this direction, and the formal approach to the island also came from there. Visitors arrived from the mainland at the main dock beside Alster Tower, then walked along stone-walled pathways and gardens past the gazebo to the castle’s main entrance. Granite stair treads quarried on nearby Oak Island were intended for a Grand Entrance Staircase at this spot, rising to the porch between the two columns above, and the rubble stone work below would have been hidden by the finished stair construction. From the size of the stair treads, the bottom step would have been nearly 30 feet wide.