My sister, Linda and my "bio Mom", Marty, live in the Phoenix area. I haven't seen either of them in years, so of course we had to stop by for a visit.
While we were there, we visited a tourist attraction called the Mystery Castle. It was built by Boyce Luther Gulley, who abandoned his wife and daughter in 1930 after learning that he had tuberculosis. He travelled to Phoenix and started building a "castle" for the little girl he'd left behind.
Mary Lou Gulley ( this is a picture of her today) was a toddler when her father unexpectedly left and never returned. Boyce Gulley's daughter, Mary Lou, still gives half the tour (the main house section) at the Mystery Castle when she feel up to it.
I can't believe she still lives here! No AC. Yikes! After Gulley's death in 1945, his wife and child inherited the castle and promptly moved in. His daughter still lives there and today conducts the tours herself. Depression glass dishes form doorway transoms, and an upside-down bathtub serves as the exhaust vent over the kitchen stove. In one room, windows are formed from the wheels of Gulley's Stutz Bearcat, the windshield of which is used as a glass panel in a terrace wall. To get from the parlor to the bedroom, a flight of stairs goes up over a boulder and down the other side so that he wouldn't have to disturb the surrounding landscape. He hauled rocks from over one mile away so the surrounding landscape wouldn't be disturbed too! This place is the original "green house."
There are a bunch of pictures below. Just click on the pic to see bigger!
There are a bunch of pictures below. Just click on the pic to see bigger!
Jasmine, this picture is for you! Nice shoes huh? They held weddings at the Mystery Castle and brides would leave at least one shoe behind at the chapel because it was rumored that the "groom would be true forever..." if they did. Needless to say - there are lot's of shoes there! This was one of them. Here are some more >>
