The Castle

How will you celebrate your fiftieth wedding anniversary? If you make it that far, then perhaps you will do something akin to what my cousin did--invite a large number of friends, relatives, sorority sisters, and other associates to tour a strange historical relic with them.

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That is what found us at Rubel's Castle on Saturday afternoon. Did you ever want a castle of your own? Well, Mike Rubel did, and with the help of his friends, he built it. The article in Wikipedia differs a bit in some of the details from our Glendora Historical Society docent's version regarding how the creation came about, but you get the gist.

A wide view

Going through the portcullis


A variety of things are embedded in the stone faced walls.

Including this mailbox. There actually are six currently occupied residences which are part of the castle. They are mostly occupied by artists and artisans.

Rubel acquired the clockworks for his clock tower at auction. The Smithsonian was late for the auction, so he got it at the opening bid of $10,000. Not having $10,000, he turned to the friend who had accompanied him to the auction, who quickly found a group of friends who would put together the funds. Then it cost some $13,000 to ship it west, as the smallest of the bells weighed in near a ton.

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The clock keeps perfect time, and a couple arrives daily around five p.m. to wind it. The face is covered because the hands are being repaired. The clock chimes on the hour and half hour--actually an enormous grandfather clock--and when it was silent for a week or two because of repairs, the neighbors called to find out what was the matter.

This is one of many vintage automobiles just waiting for restoration--at least a dozen of them.

The docent said he asked Mike Rubel once about this rack of things. Mike responded that when he found something round he put it there, when he found something square, he put it on another rack.

Well, I would hope so.

I did say, didn't I, that there were a lot of odd things embedded in the walls?

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This one afternoon would provide me with at least a year's worth of Odd Shots, but I chose to share some of it here. If I am lacking an Odd Shot some Monday, I know which folder to look in. In fact, if you need one some day, just ask and I could send you a few.