Today was going to be another long driving day. We also had to put our winter jackets back on.
We were on road by 6:30 am in order to miss the morning traffic rush. We made excellent time getting back to Colorado so we decided to visit another site. We veered off onto a mountain highway to Bishop Castle.
We were hoping to hang around Lake Isabel for a bit but the roads leading to it were closed off for the season.
A glimpse of the lake
In 1959, at the age of 15, Jim Bishop bought this 2 1/2 acre parcel of land for $450, money earned from mowing lawns and paper routes. Later that year, he dropped out of high school after a teacher told him he'd never amount to anything. The original plan was to build a family cottage... but after a few comments from friends and family that it looked something like a castle, an idea was born. For the next 40 years, building continued... but not without constant battles from the local and state (and even federal) governments who decided that a man's home ISN'T his castle.
As the castle grew, so did its fame. People began visiting in increasing numbers. Friends told Jim that he should charge for the attraction! But Jim had always hated it when he was a kid and his family couldn't afford to go to the zoo or the ballpark. And so, a visit is free; donations are a choice.
Jim is known as "a tough-talking man with strong, extreme beliefs, and sometimes he expresses them bluntly and loudly." His belief in America being a free country made up of free persons has fueled his passion in building the castle to represent the American dream.
Entering the castle... Always open - Always free
It even had a portcullis!
Unfortunately the gift shop was closed.
Phoebe and Jim Bishop
At 9,000 feet elevation, the snow usually lingers until the middle of May (sometimes even into June), so the summer building season is short, especially when dealing with mortar which cannot freeze while it's drying.
It was an interesting, dark climb up to the top of the gatehouse!
View over to the castle
Looking down below
Heading back down on the quirky, irregular steps!!
The Andreatta Tower (named after the family that donated the old school bells that hang in it) soars 160 feet in the air.
Jim did all the work himself... hauling rocks from highway ditches, cutting down trees and milling them into lumber, building scaffolding, hand-digging foundation holes up to 12 feet deep, mixing his own mortar, carrying and hoisting supplies on complex pulley system, and carefully placing each individual stone.
Inside on the ground level
One level higher in the Grand Ballroom
These custom stained glass memorials are made by local artist Del Paulson.
Going higher
The Andreatta Tower school bells
