Bishop's Castle
Bishop was only 15 years old, and his original intent was to build a family cabin
. He did not have the funds to purchase traditional building materials like lumber, so instead he quarried rocks from the mountain for free.
When people started telling him his "cabin" was starting to look like a medieval castle, he took the idea and ran with it. So what started out as a one room cottage tucked away in the mountains has been erected into a grand ballroom, several turrets and bridges, a cabin-turned-gift shop, and 160 feet high towers.
Bishop is currently working on a wall that will surround the perimeter of his property and is even building what seems to be a moat. Bishop began building the castle years ago, and the size of the structure attracted many visitors who marveled at his work.
Many people offered a helping hand, which Bishop welcomed, but no one kept to their word and actually showed up to help construct the project. After several years of getting empty-handed offers, Bishop decided that he had already built so much by himself that he could build everything by himself.
He established that he did not need any help, and that he wanted to be recognized as the sole builder of the castle. Jim Bishop now has handmade signs on the property and in the castle that proclaim "Built by One Man with the Help of God."
Most people who see the castle think he must have gotten help from up above because it is hard to imagine one person constructing such large buildings with extraordinary detail and carpentry; especially a man who is a high school drop-out. Bishop is an ironworker by trade; he worked in his father's shop as a boy and now runs it himself in Pueblo, Colorado-an hour away from his castle.
He used his iron working skill for decorative purposes; the most noticeable piecing being his stain glass window frames and stairs. He then started constructing a tower, and decided to use ironwork as its core structural bearings.
This allowed him to feel confident that he could reach new heights with the added stability. Roy's Tower has iron arches on the second floor, and supporting trusses that are huge, yet ornately detailed.
Jim Bishop builds everything with his own two hands, from mixing the mortar to shaping and laying each stone individually. He even digs holes and trenches that are as deep as 12 feet by hand, one shovel full of dirt at a time.
He crafts his own framework, and has all of his blueprints drawn up and stored in his mind. He uses his own pick-up trucks to move everything, and created his own pulley system so that he could lift materials to his towers while constructing them.
Everything is done by hand, and by himself. Bishop only works on his castle in the summer months since the snow in the Rockies does not melt until May and sometimes as late as June.
This means that Construction must be halted for about 7 months of the year, making it a very long construction phase that will probably never be completed. It could be complete if Jim Bishop only finished the projects he is working on now, but the man has big plans and after he starts on one project he only dreams up another one.
Not only is the architecture just incredible, especially considering it was all done by one person over the course of a lifetime, but Jim Bishop is famous for his anti-government rants while on the property. Bishop has had many conflicts with local officials about building permits, liability issues, parking, and just about everything else that has to do with his castle.
Bishop has strategically found a loophole to everything, from creating donation-based funding to avoid taxes, to claiming that his castle is not a building, but a piece of art so construction and insurance rules do not apply to him. The Castle and its ground are open to the public year round during day light hours only.
Admission is free, but donations are strongly suggested by guests. Donations go directly to the continuing the construction of the castle.
by: Terry Daniels
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