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Scotty's Castle
& the Death Valley Ranchclick the photo to continue ...
Flamboyant, smooth-talking, and slick, Death Valley Scotty convinced millionaire Albert Johnson to build an estate in Death Valley. In 1924, construction began on a Moorish-style mansion that was intended to be the winter home of the Johnsons. Still, Scotty enthusiastically led many to believe it was his personal domain. Costing over $2.5 million, the innovative "castle" was never completed.
"The hall of fame is going up. We're building a Castle that will last a thousand years. As long as there's men on earth, likely, these walls will stand here." -- Death Valley Scotty
"Everybody wonders about the Castle - why it is and what it is. That's what we wonder too. Scotty says it never had any beginning and it never will have an ending. And that's about true. It certainly is far from finished and it never really started. You see, we built a garage and storeroom first, and two or three bedrooms overhead. We lived in this for a while, and it was ugly. Then we began decorating and glorifying it til it turned into a castle with an organ and a bell tower and chimes. Anyway, it makes a fine lodge when we come in off the desert, hot and dusty. It's not nearly finished and maybe never will be. We don't know. We build as fancy leads." -- Bessie Johnson More about:
Walter Scott
(Death Valley Scotty)Scotty's Castle Cronology
Clickable Scotty's Castle Area Map
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