We stumbled across this place in 2003 or 2004 when driving on 4x4 trails northeast of Death Valley National Park. In a snowstorm in the late 1980s, Randy Johnston and his son came upon and took refuge in an old cabin associated with the Hard Luck Mine. Randy visited this cabin on subsequent trips and in 1999, purchased the Hard Luck Mine claim plus an adjacent claim. In 2000 he started building his dream "castle" in an area essentially free of any building codes or restrictions. Most of the work has been done by Randy with the occasional aid of a few friends. We revisited the site in late 2007 and the castle was still under construction. In recent years we had heard that the castle was basically finished and Randy had it up for sale. We decided to make the trip while we were staying in Stovepipe Wells since Randy was still giving tours and a change in ownership likely would change access. Since Scotty's Castle Road is still closed, we had to take the route over to Beatty, Nevada, and then US-95 north to NV-267.
Leaving Stovepipe Wells in the morning gave a nice view of the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes.
At the turnoff from NV-267 is one of a few signs pointing toward Hard Luck Mine Castle.
Hauling an early load of construction material on the dirt access road, Randy's trailer broke an axle. So Randy set it on end beside the road and turned it into a sort of shrine.
The castle comes into view
Randy shows off the main kitchen as part of his tour.
Climbing the spiral stairway in the central core on the way up to the glass observation dome
Looking down the central core
The view from the observation dome
One of two organs installed in the castle
Short video of Randy playing the organ
Randy claims that this is the only design drawing ever made for the castle.
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