Boyce Gulley's Curious Mystery Castle

BOYCE GULLEY'S Fairy Tale Castle IN THE DESERT

TIMID STREAKS OF SUNLIGHT PEEK

THROUGH SOFT GRAY CLOUDS HOVERING

JUST ABOVE THIS ODD TURRETED STRUCTURE KNOWN AS THE MYSTERY CASTLE, NESTLED IN THE FOOTHILLS OF PHOENIX' SOUTH MOUNTAIN PARK.

A SPRING SHOWER HAS ENDED, AND THE SUN BEAMS ITS WELCOME TO A CHUCKWALLA TAKING COVER UNDER A BENCH OF SANDSTONE AND RIVER ROCKS. SOON THE LARGE LIZARD EMERGES TO ECLIPSE A RAY

OF LIGHT WARMING THE ADJACENT

GRAND STAIRCASE LEADING TO THIS FANCIFUL CASTLE IN THE DESERT.

TEXT BY LOUISE GACIOCH PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVE THOMPSON The structure stands solo among hundreds of acres of brown hills dotted with green cacti. Cool breezes skim across parapets and pass through bell towers and shrines. It would be an eerie scene if any other castle were the centerpiece. But this is the Mystery Castle, and it is whimsical, romantic, and somewhat askew. Viewed from the end of the dirt road to the structure, the castle evokes images of Don Quixote, in full armor, standing sentinel on the rooftop. Under and around that roof is a calculated hodgepodge of arches, beams, columns, and towers of refrigerator glass, railroad ties, liquor bottles, wrought iron, Mexican and European tiles, and more. Stairways, hallways, doors, and trapdoors of diverse sizes and shapes connect rooms built on different levels. Sun decks, secret nooks and crannies, and an amazing 13 fireplaces (serving as structural pillars and providing "central heating") contribute to this triumph of invention. Don Quixote, the character from the classic Spanish novel, has similarities to Boyce Luther Gulley, the man who designed and built this stylized castle over 16 years, beginning in 1929. Each tilted at his own larger-than-life windmills: Gulley, with little money and a lot of wit, built a “virtual world” of his dreams using the very stuff of the desert, along with lost-and-found bric-a-brac and wonderful re-minders of the Southwest - from Navajo blankets to Pueblo pottery. It was an amazing feat, as any visitor can attest.

“Welcome to my castle!” calls Mary Lou Gulley, Boyce Gulley's daughter and heiress to the throne, inviting visitors into the airy, spacious living room of the 18,000-square-foot home. Today this designated princess - a small, active, and self-admitted character whom friends have nicknamed “Joan Wayne” - is busy guiding a dozen visitors through the 18-room Pueblo-style palace. She quickly reviews the story of her peripatetic father, ill with tuberculosis and seeking a warm climate; of his creativity used in combination with two years of architectural engineering studies at Texas A&M.

Entering the living room, a visitor first notices the wall of windows, harvested from an old Sante Fe Railroad depot, framing the South Mountains, making them almost touchable. The builder was an early believer in environmental architecture and worked to mesh the indoors and outdoors.

Mary Lou Gulley calls her father's creation “a recycled castle inspired by a recycled dream.” Glass panes fill a wall and can be opened fully to encourage a breeze. Rocky brown-red mountains (including Dobbins Point, the highest of the South Mountains), animals coming down to drink and bathe in makeshift baths, and much more of Nature's own specialties are the viewer's bill of fare.

Mary Lou explains to visitors that, believing his illness would burden his family,

Fairy Tale Castle

Gulley left their home in Washington without a word and set upon a two-year trek that led to the South Mountains of Phoenix remote then and today still uncluttered and beautiful. (All of South Mountain Park covers 16,500 acres of rugged desert. It is the largest municipal park in the world). Gulley died of cancer in 1945, and, for the past 51 years, Mary Lou has reigned over her father's legacy built on eight acres of a patented copper and gold mining claim.

"I had a free spirit for a father," Mary Lou explains in her high, quick-clip voice. "He left me a castle when I was just 18; been here ever since. Now, how many girls do you suppose are left a castle?"

Mary Lou saunters across the flagstone and concrete floor, patterned after a wagon wheel, including spokes. She points out an impressive stone fireplace at the center: "My dad spent many a night here warming up." Next she highlights a spectacular masonry candle shrine that incorporates Mexican tiles and steers visitors to a clever bar made strong with built-in tequila bottles. Also in the living room: a drop-leaf desk constructedbut barely visible into a pillar. Indian baskets and rugs adorn the walls. Inherent in the design throughout the castle are undulating snakes, usually of river rocks and set into floors, fireplaces, and benches. According to the Indian lore that Gulley studied, rattlesnakes symbolize protection, wisdom, and defiance.

Boyce Gulley built the structure almost single-handedly, hauling water from a nearby canal and mixing native caliche with the milk of goats. He learned the technique from Native Americans.

milk of goats. He learned the technique from Native Americans.

"Doesn't it get lonely living in a castle?" asks a visitor. "Hardly," says Mary Lou, who guides about 20,000 people a year through her home. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've met great people coming through, and they tell me all about themselves I can be myself here, too enjoy the beauty of the mountains, see squirrels, deer, and some bobcats. And I've made peace with the elements and all of Nature sometimes snakes get in here. They like the cool floor."

Life at the palace wasn't always so agreeable. Upon learning they had inherited a castle ("What a shock!"), Mary Lou and her mother, Frances, left the beaches of Washington state for the desert wilderness, where Mary Lou would, finally, become acquainted, if posthumously, with her father. Until 1971, and after Frances' death, there was no running water or electricity.

After several years in the castle, the pair had begun guiding tours in order to support themselves and the structure and to share the innovative castle with others. "We knew we had to make it," Mary Lou emphasizes in her story to guests. She goes on to tell about the day in 1948 when Life Magazine visited the castle, catapulting it to fame, if not fortune. Mary Lou points out an album featuring the article and photos of herself at 18, stretched on a castle parapet in the sun: "A young girl rules over the strange secrets of a fairy-tale dream house built on the Arizona desert . . ." reads the headline of the Life article. Since then, Mary Lou tells visitors, her father's fairy-tale fortress with the mingled motif has, for starters, made the pages of The New York Times and National Inquirer and has appeared on many TV shows, including "That's Incredible!" and "You Asked for It!" Guests move through a spacious bedroom with walls of boxcars and rough rocks, a simple backdrop for an ornate Spanish walnut high-back bed, circa 1860. Nearby is a 200-year-old leather rosary from Bolivia. "My father traveled far and picked up many items from thieves' markets in Mexico City," Mary Lou explains. "Back then, it didn't take a lot of money." Mary Lou moves her visitors on to other rooms, all the while pointing out ceilings constructed of sides of boxcars and old railroad ties. Many innovations are forerunners of modern architecture, not the least of which are the sunken conversation pits in front of some fireplaces, such as one in the wedding chapel where many a local has been married. "There it is: the Grand Canyon. Now you don't have to go there, yourself," the guide quips, pointing to a stylized fireplace covered in rocks positioned to mimic the North Rim of the Canyon. It's spectacular when lit with candles. A circular window of old refrigerator trays set in thick walls hosts one of the castle's many recessed seating areas, made popular in later architectural styles. A circa 1870 peddle organ from Tombstone adds solemnity to the chapel. "Look, bunks for drunks!" the guide emphasizes, pointing to beds in the antechamber of the Dug Out, a now-dry barroom. The bar itself is made of one-half of a Conestoga wagon. "And that's where the drunks can be buried with their boots on," adds Mary Lou, pointing to the corner dirt-and-dust minireplica of Tombstone's Boot Hill. Perhaps most impressive in this streamof-consciousness abode is the two-level bedroom built around the skeleton of a massive saguaro cactus. One of Gulley's forward-thinking notions is a brass bed on tracks so it can be rolled away and hidden in the wall. Meanwhile, wire wheel rims of an old Stutz Bearcat make a circular window where the sun peeks through onto two chairs made from cactus skeletons. "It's the easiest way I know of to wash the floor," Mary Lou says, directing traffic to the kitchen with a floor sloping to a drain for quick cleanup. A steam table from an early elementary school features a handpainted mural and serves as an island workspace. Also, just as fun as it is useful: an old oven built into a stone pillar with the vent made out of an inverted bathtub once used by cowboys. Overall, the Mystery Castle is an explorer's dream, a triumph of recycled treasures and a delightful collection of wonders of the Southwest and of the natural desert. It is a fascinating and unpretentious celebration of spirit and creativity. "My dad really was resourceful and a genius, I believe," says Mary Lou Gulley. It's unlikely any visitor would argue with her.

Louise Gacioch has harbored a fascination for castles from childhood, and she has traveled as far as Sintra, Portugal, to enjoy them. "The Mystery Castle is the most delightful by far," she says. An Arizona native, Steve Thompson has made many visits to the Mystery Castle since he was a child. He calls it "one of Arizona's original masterpieces. It's my dream house come true."

WHEN YOU GO

The Mystery Castle sits in the foothills of Phoenix' South Mountain Park, two miles south of Baseline Road. To get there, take Seventh Street south to Mineral Road, at the foothills of South Mountain, then head east to the castle, which you'll be able to see. Tour hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. Admission is $4, adults; $1.50, ages five to 14. For more information, write or call Mystery Castle, 800 E. Mineral Road, Phoenix, AZ 85040; (602) 268-1581.