In 1903, Frederick G. Bourne, commodore and president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, began building Singer Castle on Dark Island as a hunting lodge. Designed by American beaux-arts architect Ernest Flagg, the 28 room granite castle was based on Sir Walter Scott's descriptions of "The Towers" in his novel Woodstock, and the castle, originally called The Towers, along with many of the island's other buildings, was completed in 1905. Dark Island granite was quarried from Oak Island and transported over water and ice, then shaped by Italian and local stonemasons into the ornately detailed main castle, grand boathouses, pergola, ice house, and other island structures. Because the 7 acre island was too small for hunting, it served instead as a family summer retreat and as an elaborate base camp for hunting and fishing in the north country. The castle has been continuously occupied since its completion and still contains its original furnishings and decorations. Bourne, born into modest circumstances, began working for the Singer Sewing Machine Company as a young man and rose to become its president, under whose leadership the business prospered and he became one of the wealthiest men in the country. Later changes included a clock added to the tower and expansions in 1913, conversion of the piazza into two rooms with an apartment above in the 1920s, transfer to LaSalle Christian Brothers after Marjorie's death in 1962, purchase by the Harold Martin Evangelical Association in 1965 with the name changed to Jorstad Castle, purchase by Dark Island Tours in 2002 and restoration begun, and opening for public tours in 2003.