A to Z Blogging Challenge - M

 

A to Z April (2022) Blogging Challenge

 

Hello, dear readers!

I’d like to thank you all in advance for stopping by, and I hope that at least a few on my list of remarkable buildings pique your interest as they did mine.

“Design is not a coincidence or a formula, it is a result of human reflection and vision in response to a specific challenge.” ~ Unknown

 

M

Mystery Castle

 

On the off-chance that anyone out there hasn’t heard of this fascinating place, I’m going to talk about the Mystery Castle today because I think you ought to know ;-)

 

Designated a “Phoenix Point of Pride,” the castle doesn’t so much as rise but appears to erupt from the desert floor in a cacophonous mix of objects, ornate and abstract, mundane and creatively practical. A spoke rim from an old car serves as a window frame. An upside-down bathtub serves as a kitchen range hood. Hemingway would have appreciated the prevalent presence of cats, statues, paintings, and quite alive (back in the day). The castle contains an underground room called “Purgatory,” guarded by a knight and a leashed crocodile, that affords access to both a tavern (to the left) and a chapel (to the right) with a pump organ; said to have belonged to the “Widow of Tombstone,” who buried six husbands at Boot Hill. The castle creator’s daughter, Mary Lou, played the organ for numerous private weddings conducted in the Chapel.

Many prominent people have reportedly visited the castle, including John Wayne and Frank Lloyd Wright, who admired the masonry. An Arizona senator and the governor donated pieces of fine furniture. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the deed to the land as personal property of Mr. Boyce Gully, replacing the original mining claim.

I wouldn’t mind being on the list of visitors, would you?