The Mystery Castle in Phoenix, Arizona is an 8,000-square-foot home built by Boyce Luther Gulley using reclaimed materials. It was a promise to his daughter, Mary Lou, who now lives there and leads tours. The castle features bizarre architectural details and is open to visitors from October to mid-June. The castle is a Phoenix Point of Pride and has 18 rooms, each with different characteristics and surprises. The castle is not a traditional castle and has a sad story of love, abandonment, and fulfillment of promises.
The Mystery Castle is a Phoenix, Arizona landmark and a must-see for tourists interested in eclectic architecture. It’s an 8,000-square-foot home, built mostly of reclaimed materials, by the eccentric Boyce Luther Gulley. When Gulley was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the early 20th century, he left his wife and daughter and went to Phoenix, where he gradually pieced together the castle of mystery.
Today, the Mystery Castle is still inhabited by Mary Lou Gulley, Boyce’s daughter, who recalls how her father once promised to build her a castle. Unlike other castles in the air, this one has become a real castle, even if Mary Lou and her father were not destined to enjoy it together. Mary Lou and Boyce’s wife had no knowledge of the castle until after Boyce’s death. Though saddened, they loved his castle with its 18 rooms and decided to reside there.
This strange story of love, abandonment and fulfillment of promises is remembered by the Castle of the Mysteries, which features many bizarre architectural details. It is considered a Phoenix Point of Pride and is open to visitors from October to mid-June. It is closed during the hotter summer months as the hot weather can make the house very hot. Visitors who love the Mystery Castle are advised to call to check tour availability, pricing, and open days.
Mary Lou leads some of the tours, while the guides lead others. Since she moved there as a teenager, Mary Lou knows all the ins and outs of this interesting building. Each room has different characteristics and surprises. For example, Frank Lloyd Wright donated some furniture for some rooms. All rooms tend to dazzle with their unusual workmanship. You’ll find curiosities of all kinds, home-made bricks and what would have been considered “junk” or scrap used in the most creative way.
The Mystery Castle isn’t really a castle in the traditional sense: its exterior architecture doesn’t suggest a “castle” to most enthusiasts. The view from the outside may initially put visitors off, although it features a turret. Inside, there’s so much room for the imagination, and perhaps the only mystery about it is why Gulley abandoned his wife and child and didn’t contact them during the final years of his life. Instead he devoted most of his time to building this castle that he once envisioned with his young daughter.
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