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Bishop Castle: The Castle Built by One Man

This is being built by one man. Unbelievable.

http://curiousexpeditions.org/wp-con...25eef4352e.jpg
photo source: http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=91

Quote:

Bishop Castle
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2047

For 40 years, Jim Bishop has been building a castle on a mountainside in central Colorado. "Did it all myself, don't want any help," he says mechanically as he unloads a pile of rocks that he's hoisted to the 70-foot level on one of the castle towers.

Every year since 1969, Bishop has single-handedly gathered and set over 1000 tons of rock to create this stone and iron fortress in the middle of nowhere. Bishop calls it "a monument to hardworking people" and "America's biggest, one-man, physical project." "I always wanted a castle. Every man wants a castle," Bishop continues, his voice a broken record, answering the same questions he's obviously been asked thousands of times before.

It hasn't been easy. For most of those 40 years Bishop was engaged in a running battle with Washington bureaucrats over the rocks that he used, which came from the San Isabel National Forest that surrounds the castle property. Bishop felt that they were his for the taking, the government wanted to charge him per truckload.

Another bone of contention that stuck in Bishop's craw belonged to the Colorado state Chamber of Commerce, which refused to list Bishop Castle as an attraction in its official tourism guides.

Happily, those angry years are in the past. Both Uncle Sam and the Colorado Chamber now recognize that Bishop's dementia concretia is marketable, and that he's transformed some heavy, unwanted rocks into pure tourism gold.

The castle is a popular spot. "I been here three times," said one visitor. "I'm taking my kids to see what one man can do," said another. Other popular comments: "He's crazy," "Where does he get the time?" and "Where does he get the money?"

Bishop's goal is to complete his castle before he dies. He has no thought of slowing down. Although the castle is still just a hollow shell of cemented rocks and ornamental ironwork (Jim Bishop's regular line of business), his future plans include a moat and a drawbridge, a roller coaster mounted on the castle's outer wall, a balcony big enough to hold an orchestra, and a second castle for Phoebe, his wife.

"I want to live as long as I can and keep building that castle bigger and bigger and bigger."

Note: By 2005, Jim had added a large metal mesh dome on top of the castle, which rotates when visitors run in it. Visitor Janet advised "You are free to explore the castle on your own, which is both exciting and scary since you are walking very high up on open, wrought iron platforms and bridges."

Pretty impressive!
I think every state has a crazy builder like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockyi (Post 4636324)

Pretty impressive!
I think every state has a crazy builder like that.

In many states, you could never get away with building something even remotely similar to this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMich (Post 4636694)

In many states, you could never get away with building something even remotely similar to this.

Why not? If you put up the cash, and it's your land, you could build whatever you want.

^
Have you ever heard of zoning or the building code?

Anyway, Bishop's castle is cool. I've been there a couple of times. It's in the middle of nowhere, but close to a cabin my grandparents have.

well, that is kind of cool!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cirrus (Post 4636924)

^
Have you ever heard of zoning or the building code?

Anyway, Bishop's castle is cool. I've been there a couple of times. It's in the middle of nowhere, but close to a cabin my grandparents have.

Of course I've heard of zoning and building codes. Apparently this old bat is building his castle so he met those codes. And I can't imagine those codes would be entirely different than the codes of the other states. Sure there will be some variances but if he wanted to build his castle in any other state I'm sure he could have had it done. I've seen weird structures, buildings, houses, etc. in most of the major cities I've been to.

Quote:

"For 40 years, Jim Bishop has been building a castle. . ."

"Although the castle is still just a hollow shell of cemented rocks and ornamental ironwork (Jim Bishop's regular line of business), his future plans include a moat and a drawbridge, a roller coaster mounted on the castle's outer wall, a balcony big enough to hold an orchestra, and a second castle for Phoebe, his wife."

Well I hope she's not waiting too carefully for that one!

Actually HomrQT, this particular guy isn't meeting any codes. I happen to know (because it is so close to my grandparents' home) that he is extremely lucky to be building in an area with no regulations about such things.

But there aren't many places in the country that don't have such regulations, which is why your earlier statement...

> If you put up the cash, and it's your land, you could build whatever you want.

... was wrong.

Normally owning land and putting up cash isn't enough. In this specific unique case it is, but this specific unique case is the exception, not the rule.

i should have the right to build a garish skyscraper with a liquor store and a strip joint on the ground floor next to the garage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cirrus (Post 4637322)

Is there some formal information that you have on that? When I had my house built here in the city of Chicago, the developer working with me said the sky was the limit as long as it meets safety standards. He even joked saying I could be the first one with a castle in my neighborhood.

Florida has Coral Castle, which isn't quite a castle, but was built by one guy in the 1920's and Solomon's castle, built of discarded materials in the literal middle of nowhere. They both are/were quite crazy I'm sure.

http://coralcastle.com/

http://www.solomonscastle.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMich (Post 4636694)

In many states, you could never get away with building something even remotely similar to this.

Maybe not quite like this but I'm talking about all those crazy people who make these enormous grottos or other structures out of broken plates, bottles, concrete etc. They seem to be quite common.
There's that huge structure in south-central Los Angeles, can't remember the name of it, though. It's quite tall. I find it hard to believe he got a permit for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomrQT (Post 4637451)

Either your developer was lying or it was a different time period, when codes and zoning were unenforced or more relaxed. Take this building, for example, the Broken Angel house in Brooklyn NY. When it was built in the 70s, the neighborhood was a shithole and the city didn't look twice to stop it from being built, even though it violated about every code in the book. It had a minor fire a few years ago, which caught the DoB's attention, who requisitioned the house and had it demolished.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/3...a931e8db_b.jpg
runsbrooklyn.blogspot.com

Which brings me to my next point. Why does folk architecture everywhere always tend to look the same?

In Cleveland there was a guy (eastern European) building a house out of pallets (HUGE code violation). I think he was deported.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockyi (Post 4637592)

It's the Watts Towers by Simon Rodia.

http://www.challzine.net/25/25p1watts.jpg

As for why folk architecture always looks like the way it looks... I'd say cost. It's hard to put in nice concrete slabs or walls when it costs a grand per cubic yard of concrete. I think the size of the materials is an important factor as well, I don't think most folk artists have front end loaders and skidsters to work with. I think they also use a lot of scrap material as well.

^That's the one. :yes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMancuso (Post 4637340)

i should have the right to build a garish skyscraper with a liquor store and a strip joint on the ground floor next to the garage.

Well J, you do live in Houston so it's certainly possible... :cheers:

It kind of reminds me of the House on the Rock, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_on_the_Rock