Psychedelic sand castle

Posted Monday, May 21, 2007, 3:58 PM by Lonely Planet

If Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí had crawled feverishly through the Arizona desert, he might have hallucinated the Mystery Castle. Equal parts Mexican hacienda, Native American cliff dwelling and psychedelic sand castle, this bizarre art house dodges traditional labels.



Told that he would promptly die of tuberculosis, Boyce Luther Gulley fled his family in 1930 and relocated to the sandy cacti-stubbled hills outside Phoenix, Arizona. He hurled himself into a mammoth construction project, erecting a fantasy home limited only by his imagination and scarce water supplies.

Recycling materials dumped at the city limits, he fashioned telegraph poles into hulking ceiling beams and oxen yokes into chandeliers. Over the next fifteen years, he pieced together eighteen stone and adobe rooms, including a wedding chapel with a mosaic serpent floor and a basement bar sliced from a wooden wagon. A truly organic builder, he mixed the piazza cement with available local ingredients, including goat's milk.

When Gulley passed away, his estranged wife and daughter arrived and discovered a trap door, now guarded by a toothy metal alligator. When they finally unsealed the vault, they found two $500 bills and a cache of gold nuggets. His daughter has lived there ever since. Thanks, Dad!



Mystery Castle: 602-268-1581; 800 E Mineral Rd, Phoenix, Arizona

- Beth Kohn is currently on a road-trip through the Southwest States researching the USA guidebook. Over the next five weeks, Beth will be unearthing the quirk and bringing you the best in kitsch Americana. Have you been to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada? What should Beth look out for?

Labels: The Americas

Join the Discussion: