John is incredibly prone to bouts of insomnia. It's not a rare occurrence for me to wake up in the middle of the night and find him reading or watching TV. When we had cable I would find him watching a lot of Travel Channel programs on weird homes or offbeat tourist destinations. That's where he first saw Bishop Castle.
The castle is set in the beautiful San Isabel National Forest, in the town of Rye, CO. It's a fairly secluded location, but it was packed with tourists on the day we visited. The castle is a legend because of several disputes between the castle builder and the government. I chatted with a few other visitors while I waited for braver McBeans to traverse the shaky landings at the top of the castle and I got the distinct impression that the local lore attracted more people than the Travel Channel special.
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| Looking up from the parking lot |
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| In front of the non-functional front gate |
As with most stories of this nature, I am inclined to think that a fair amount of embellishment is added with time, but on the day we visited Mr. Bishop was on site, sitting under an umbrella at a donation box (admission is free, but Mr. Bishop does ask for donations to continue construction). He's a grumbly man, now fighting cancer, and clearly frustrated that he can no longer work on the castle with the quickness and efficiency of his youth. His demeanor is not inviting, which led Roadside America to place a disclaimer on the Bishop Castle page of their website warning parents that he is prone to rant about politics, race, and religion and to steer children clear if they would rather not run the risk of subjecting them to that. Still, he had a smirk on his face and seemed to enjoy watching people explore what he had spent years creating by hand.
While I was waiting outside the gift shop I had the opportunity to engage him for a few minutes and he gave me some of the back story:
In the 60's he started building with the intention of building a small stone cottage for his family. He started by using rocks that he found in the forest and everyone kept saying that it looked like a castle, so he just kept building and decided that he would build a castle.
Though there are signs in the castle that it was intended to be, or was briefly, inhabited the Bishop family never made it their home and it remains largely unfinished.
Mr. Bishop had hoped to complete the castle before his death, but that now that doesn't seem like a likely possibility.
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| The construction of the barrier wall makes it apparent that use of machinery is minimal. |
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| John never misses an opportunity to climb to the top of something. |
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| G and P checking out the moat in the making |
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| Front view |
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| The most popular view of the castle |
Even unfinished the castle is an interesting sight, with Mr. Bishop's taste for the eclectic clearly evidenced. There is beautiful, though seemingly random, stained glass throughout the castle. Inside walls are dotted with both beautiful art and graffiti, some which appears to have been done my Bishop himself. The upper levels are surrounded by questionably sturdy grate balconies and walkways, with a sphere you can climb into at the top. Of course, the boys favorite was the dragon, which actually shoots a six foot flame on special occasions.
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| There are several staircases and passages, and though the castle is not incredibly large, it is easy to get turned around. |
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| The kitchen area. I loved these old appliances. |
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| Stained glass on the second level |
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| More shaky, spiral staircases |
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| The largest room is one the second level. This door leads to the wrap around balcony. |
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| On the balcony |
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| Eclectic art like this can be found all over the property |
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| And some people can't resist playing with it |
John, Gunnar, and Destiny went all the way to the top while my mom and I waited at the bottom with the girls. We made the excuse that it didn't look safe for such unsteady feet, but truth be told, you couldn't have gotten me up there if you were hiding the last cup of Tully's coffee at the peak. No way, no how. I think my mom would agree.
When they finally came down the incredibly steep staircase at the front corner of the castle John confirmed that it would have been too dangerous for the little girls and that the walk across the bridge was pretty frightening since the wind had picked up and was making it sway significantly.
In addition to the spiral staircases, beautiful handwork, and amazing views you will also find a gift shop, at least a hundred hand painted signs making crystal clear Mr. Bishop's anti-government stance, and, sadly, a private mausoleum where Mr. Bishop's son was interred after he met his end in a tree falling accident on the castle site.
Bishop's Castle is not a major landmark and it didn't take long to see it, but we came away with a few valuable lessons for the Fire Team:
- no machine ever replaces the value of what a man can do with his hands,
- art has many forms and truly is in the eye of the beholder,
and
- chasing your passion doesn't always look like hefty bank accounts and lots of tangible things, sometimes it looks like sitting in the shade watching people enjoy something you poured your life into.
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