The Reclaimed Castle

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Someday, when my husband and I buy a house, I plan to decorate it with reclaimed/salvaged items.  I love the idea of taking a door for example and turning it into a room divider, headboard or maybe a table.  Not only are you recycling junk and/or old worn out items, but you are turning them into useful objects to decorate your home.

In the 1930’s, a man named Boyce Luther Gulley, built his Mystery Castle on the side of South Mountain, south of Phoenix, totally out of refurbished materials found in the surrounding area.  His castle is made from river rock, railroad ties, discarded metals, copper, various types of glass, old car parts, boulders with petroglyphs, and furniture from abandoned buildings.  When he was finished, the castle was about 8,000 square feet with 18 rooms, 13 fireplaces, interesting parapets, and many small recessed spaces.  The inside is just as interesting as the outside with decorations of more reclaimed items.  Boyce even had a trapdoor in the floor of one of the rooms with treasures hidden there for his daughter and wife.  The castle, its history and unusual building materials make Mystery Castle a fun place to visit.














Comments

  1. Justine’s HalloweenSeptember 16, 2013 at 2:51 PM

    He did a pretty good job! The exterior looks professional and I like that round window. Every now and then I hear a story about a guy who built a house, grotto, or sculptural type building out of what was around. It's creative!

    I have a few links for you:

    Weird U.S. Grotto of Redemption:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlrMYQ6z-Yk

    The Beer Can House:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss0jK_gMYFU

    Ferdinand Cheval's Le Palais Idéal (A French postal worker's castle type structure built from rocks)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-mtuMVrhio

    I watched a show about this last one years back. He was hauling big stones in a wheelbarrow as an elderly man to build this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julie FergusonSeptember 16, 2013 at 4:05 PM

    My dream is to find place (church, firehouse, business) for sale and convert it into a home. I will decorate it in reclaimed items. I watch shows like "The Picker Sisters" and "Flea Market Finds" also "You Live in What" and love all the creative ideas these people have.

    ReplyDelete

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