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Scotty's Castle
& the Death Valley Ranchclick the photo to continue ...
Scotty's Castle, also known as Death Valley Ranch, is a historic villa in the Grapevine Mountains of California within Death Valley National Park. Despite its name, it is not a castle, nor was it ever owned by Walter E. Scott, better known as "Death Valley Scotty."
History The estate was constructed in the 1920s by the Chicago millionaire Albert Mussey Johnson and his wife, Bessie. Johnson's trips to Death Valley inspired the project, and he became acquainted with Scott, a well-known character famous for his outlandish stories and mining scams.
Although Scott convinced John
son to invest in a nonexistent gold mine, Johnson's time in the desert improved his health and sparked his love for the area. Their unusual friendship led to the estate being popularly associated with Scotty, although he wasn't the owner.
Architecture and Features
The villa features Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles. Highlights include:It was planned to become a luxurious resort, complete with designs for a swimming pool, but it was never finished.
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
Scotty's Castle Cronology
Interior photo tour
Exterior photo gallery
More about:Walter Scott
(Death Valley Scotty)Clickable Scotty's Castle Area Map
Click here to zoom out to the Death Valley Map