Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
Here's another "castle" in Alhambra. It looks very low rent compared to the Pyrenees Castle.
I believe it says Diamond Castle on the turret. Anyone know the history of this one?
USC Digital Library
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While I was looking through vintage images of Alhambra to try and find a picture of the El Molino Mills for
ScottyB, I found several photos of a pair of castles. The first, the Diamond Castle, previously appeared on NLA in late 2010 (above), but doesn't seem to have received any replies. The article below is from the April 1921 issue of Popular Science. I have no idea what "castles in the air" were being built by Mrs McClain.
books.google.com
This view of Diamond Castle is from LAPL. There are a few variations in the design. Note that they place it in Pasadena, and spell the owner's name differently.
Exterior view of Alexander McLean's residence, known as "Diamond Castle," in Pasadena.
LAPL
They also have several pictures of Tiree Castle. The earliest is dated 1916, and one of them gives an alternate street number of 444 (of unidentified street). Another comes with a note saying
"Information on the photo verso states that this home became a restaurant in 1935, but is no longer in existence.".
Tiree Castle, a home in the form of a small castle in Alhambra, no longer exists. It was built by Alexander MacLean at number 414 of unidentified street. The woman on the left is Archie Maclean Owen, on the right is her sister Irene MacLean Fry.
LAPL
I finally tracked down this picture of Diamond Castle in a book called 'Alahmbra' by Michael Anthony Orozco and the Alhambra Historical Society. It gives the address as 414 W Grand Avenue. I find it a bit coincidental that both castles would have the same street number, but the 400 blocks of the cross streets of W Grand Avenue are directly north of it, and the Popular Science article says that one castle can be seen from the other.
books.google.com
Just as I was about to post, I found this clipping on Pinterest with some interesting information about Tiree Castle. There's no credit, but the original yellow highlighting suggests that it came from an online source. The page also has other pictures of both castles, one of which lists the address of Tiree Castle as 414 Grand Avenue. I wonder which castle was actually at that address.
Pinterest