Before and after her husband's death Aroline P. Gove (1885–1939) was active in real estate as an investment, buying property in Boston's Back Bay, Peabody, Swampscott, Lynn, Danvers, and Salem. In 1927 Aroline P. Gove bought the estate known as Flying Point, on the southwest, oceanside end of Marblehead Neck, and she is shown as a summer resident on Ocean Avenue in Marblehead Neck in the 1934 directory. By July 1935, according to the Boston Herald, she was building herself a "new stone mansion" to the east, also on the ocean side of the neck. Modeled on and named for a castle she had visited in Carcassonne, France, during her extensive travels, the stone dwelling featured a central tower with four wings, poured concrete floors, and interior trim in white marble, black onyx, and exotic woods. The house cost $500,000, and the Herald reported in 1939 that she built it "to employ craftsmen from 35 different building trades" who were out of work during the Depression; President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote her a letter "commending her for the move," the Herald stated.[7]
Aroline Gove lived only four years after building Carcassonne, which passed to her unmarried daughter Lydia Pinkham Gove (1885–1948) as did the post of treasurer in the Pinkham company; Lydia had assisted her mother since at least 1927, and the year before she hired an airplane and pilot and became the first woman to cross the country by air, from Los Angeles. Her mother took her first airplane in 1935, to fly to the District of Columbia to protest changes to the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.[8]
Aroline Gove died in 1939 and Carcassonne was inherited by her daughter, Lydia Pinkham Gove[7] until her death in 1948.
On August 15, 1949, Guido Rugo purchased Carcassonne from the estate of Lydia Pinkham Gove for $50,000.[8] In 1954, the Rugos hosted 500 guests for Archbishop Richard J. Cushing's 59th birthday.[9]
In 1964, the Rugos sold the house to attorney Robert J. DiGiacomo and his wife who sold it in 1966 to James Zografos, who sold it to Butler in 1973.
In 1972, George A. Butler, the New England distributor of Toyota automobiles, purchased Carcassonne. He decorated the castle with a number of unique objects, including a jewelry case made out of an ostrich egg, an impala skeleton, and a painting of Muhammad Ali inscribed by the boxer.[10] Butler also had a private helipad, a small theater, and four tiers of gardens.[11] Butler hosted a number of benefit parties at Carcassonne for the Boston Children's Hospital and his other favorite charities.[10] Carcassonne's annual benefit for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, known as "Pique-Nique au Bord de Mer" (picnic by the sea), drew a number of famous guests, including Joan Kennedy, John Havlicek, Mike Eruzione, Francis X. Bellotti, Frank Avruch, Tom Ellis, Don Gillis, and Thomas P. O'Neill III. Peter Duchin performed at the 1980 event.[11] He also hosted fundraisers for the Massachusetts Democratic Party.[12] Butler sold Carcassonne in 1982. He stated that he decided to sell the home because its dampness aggravated his asthma and its small windows obstructed his view of the ocean. Butler and his wife moved into smaller home three doors down from Carcassonne.[13]
Condominium developer William Lilly purchased Carcassonne from Butler for $1 million.[13] In 1991, the property was foreclosed on by 1st American Bank for Savings.[3] It was sold by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation at a sealed-bid auction.[5] The minimum bid was $1.53 million. At the time, Carcassonne was assessed at $3.4 million.[3] In 1992, Carcassonne's new owners, the Gianatasio family, gave the mansion an extensive makeover.[4][14]
