He spent much of his early life out of doors, and at a young age left to tour the South on a bicycle.

[2] In 1923, Curwood built this replica of a Norman chateau along the banks of the Shiawassee River near his mother's home in Owosso.

Each year, the city of Owosso hosts the Curwood Festival the first full weekend in June.

The exterior is made of yellow stucco containing decorative, randomly spaced fieldstones Curwood chose himself.

The front facade has an entrance, framed with fieldstone, between two spires, covered with a projecting shed roof.