West Wing of Collinwood

The West Wing of Collinwood is a fictional location featured in the 1966-1971 Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Although not really addressed in the early years of the series, it became a central locale for several major story-arcs beginning in 1968. Notable storylines involving the West Wing include "The Ghost of Quentin Collins" and the "1840 Flashback" storylines.

Descripton
No area of Collinwood is as rife with mystery and intrigue as that of the West Wing. At some point in the past, a secret passageway was built, which led from a storage room downstairs to a hidden panel in the drawing room. The scheming Gabriel Collins would use this passageway to sneak about the house. Gabriel's brother, Quentin Collins I constructed his "Stairway into Time" in the West Wing. The West Wing also contained a playroom filled with toys for Tad Collins and Carrie Stokes. In the late 1800s, Quentin Collins resided in the West Wing. He was killed in his bedroom and following his death, the room was sealed up. At some point in the mid-20th century, Collinwood matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard had the entire area sealed off and the rooms began to fall into disrepair. Despite this however, her young nephew David Collins often found reasons to sneak into the West Wing to play. The ghosts of Quentin Collins and his lover Beth Chavez haunted the West Wing where they embarked upon a scheme to avenge themselves against the entire Collins family.

Points of Interest

 * Playroom: The playroom was one of the forty rooms found in the Great House at Collinwood - home of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine. It was one of the rooms found in the West Wing, which was very active during the 19th century, but was closed down in more modern years. During the 1840s, the playroom was often used by Tad Collins and Carrie Stokes and was stocked with various toys and childrens' games of the era. The playroom was adjacent to a secret niche which housed the Stairway Into Time - a static time machine constructed by the first Quentin Collins in 1840. In 1970, the playroom was utilized by David Collins and Hallie Stokes, both of whom were direct descendents of Tad and Carrie, and were even possessed by their 19th century counterparts for a time.


 * Stairway Into Time: The Stairway into Time was an invention of the original Quentin Collins, designed for time travel. Quentin constructed the staircase in his laboratory at Collinwood in the year 1840, though the staircase later appeared in the west wing of the house. Quentin believed that time was to be understood as physical space, and built the stairway based on his theories. The design plans for the staircase survived for 130 years and the second Quentin Collins found the plans in the west wing. The staircase was hidden behind the Collinwood playroom and could be accessed through a secret door in the back of the room. Doctor Julia Hoffman and Barnabas Collins first used the stairway when they discovered it in the year 1995. After climbing up and down a flight of steps, the duo returned to 1970. David Collins and Hallie Stokes found the ghosts of Tad Collins and Carrie Stokes beckoning them to climb the stairs and become lost in the past not long before the spirits of the two children from 1840 took possessed David and Hallie's minds. Julia Hoffman used the stairway again to escape the destruction of Collinwood in the present, and found herself in 1840. Professor T. Eliot Stokes used the stairs some months later to arrive in 1840, himself, and Barnabas, Julia, and Eliot later used the stairs to return to the present after completing their work in 1840. Desmond Collins promised to destroy the stairs following the trio's return to the twentieth century.