Antiques fit for royalty

We happened across R. Jorgensen's shop while out and about hunting for antiques for ourselves or to sell on my wife's Ebay and Ruby Lane stores.

The Jorgensen establishment is just one of those places when it comes to price: "If you have to ask..." That said, there were some of the most beautiful historic pieces of furniture that I've ever seen outside of a museum present. There was quite a variety, and some of the pieces were very, very rare; of the type only seen in high-end magazines or the kind that you see on Antiques Roadshow where someone brings it in only to find out it was made by an early American furniture maker, and its worth enough to pay off their house... Everyone knows what good furniture slooks and feels like, but these items were quality; you could tell at first glance. it took no expertise on our part to see this. These are the kind of items that really could belong in museums.

The shop is very unassuming and not pretentious at all. We were very surprised when the senior Mr. Jorgensen himself took us up a brief tour of the workshop and showed us some of the incoming pieces that they'd purchased and were restoring for sale in the store. He was very kind and informative; and treated us like we really were potential customers, even though it was pretty obvious that we weren't purchasing (nor could we afford) anything.

At any rate, if you suddenly find yourself with a lot of extra cash and a castle that you'd like to furnish with historical beauties, check 'em out.

Update

Nothing new here, no new castles found; but take a look at Castle DuPont's site, he's added some new pictures and you can see in very good detail the process of building a castle from CMU's. Currently, there are great pictures that show the CMU walls and waterproofing measures necessary to prevent water leaking into a partially earth-bermed building.

Also, I've been watching real estate trends to see what land might cost. After watching it climb rapidly in the last several years and now seeing it plunge almost as rapidly, it makes building your own house look more and more affordable. 1/2 - 1 acre north of where I live could easily cost $150K+, now there are multi -acre plots that cost less. I even found an 80+ acre lot for less than $100k, but with a price like that, it seems immediately suspect. Probably it is mostly swamp, is landlocked (needing to fight for an easement to get access), has no utilities nearby (an would cost a lot to get the utilities to), has environmental restrictions, high taxes, or any number of things that make the price not so nice. Still, if you wanted to go totally green and off the grid, it may not be such a bad deal.

Yet another model.

The problem with designing a castle yourself, if you're a castle fan, is that there are so many different styles that are interesting or just plain neat. To stick to one style tends to mean that any of the other features you like probably will not be included. Well, the good thing about computer modeling is that you can mash them all together to see what it will look like.

This castle is a little bit of everything. Yes, there are some things that aren't quite right: Windows are too large, bad positioning, eyebrow windows too large, a few missing features, etc... But you can get a fair idea of what the finished product would look like. It appears to be big, but it would be less than 4000 sq ft were it actually built (not including garage). The exterior could be easily and rapidly done in CMU and all decorative features applied as facade (such as half-timber or stone). The raised ground is backfill to 4' high, the wall would be 12' above the surrounding grade to give a sense of height. There doesn't even need to be a wall really at all.

Anyway, the model is available to view with Google's SketchUp, along with the rest of my creations.

Storybook Homes

The path towards thinking of building a castle has been winding with a few stops at different ideas along the way, and my better half and I have looked at several styles and types of buildings and thought they were the all the "Cat's Meow" at the time. We both think old houses (read 75+ years) are great, they have character that the modern suburban cookie cutter homes lack. After owning an old house though, one quickly realizes all of the work that must be done to keep it up or fix it. There's a couple of times I've thought it would be easier to tear the house down and rebuild it than to fix some issues it had. Needless to say, we probably won't want another one...

We also took and interest in earth-sheltered homes. They're incredibly efficient, blend in with the landscape, and there's lots of DIY info out there on how to build one on a very tight budget. The efficiency comes partly from using the Earth's roughly 57F constant to shelter the building from any temperature extremes in the environment, and the often thick walls of an earth-sheltered home act as thermal mass to shield the interior from the temperature swings as well. It may come to pass that one of these gets built as a home first and a bigger structure gets built while we live in the smaller building. An earth-sheltered home can look like anything you want, from super modern to "Hobbit"-like.

Along the lines of the older homes, we also like "Storybook" homes. There was a brief run in the popularity of this style of home that peaked around the 1920s. They were generally smaller buildings that incorporated any combination of castle, cottage or even Tudor architecture to give it a look like it belongs in a fairy tale. The original homes are very desirable to this day an can be found in many places around the country, though they tend to cluster in urban areas. Storybookers.com is a great site to get more information and to see some examples of these homes. There is also a modern business selling plans for their version of storybook homes, the site is storybookhomes.biz. We purchased both elevation/description books from the site for ideas. They tend to lean towards the Cotswold cottage style, and some of the plans look more palatial than cottage-like, but it's really neat stuff to look at. Honestly, to build one of storybookhomes.biz's homes would cost a fortune due to all of the architectural details unless you built it yourself. The only thing that I didn't care for was that the layout of the rooms in the plan was completely modern; in other words, when you got inside the home you'd feel like you were in any other modern home and that, to me, seems to detract from the whole cottage or storybook feel that you would be trying to create with a building like this; but that's just my opinion, and that design may be exactly what some folks want. At any rate, both sites are worth looking at for enjoyment or inspiration, and the storybookhomes.biz has some link resources leading to specialized hardware or tradesmen that could be interesting.

(The picture is from the storybookhomes.biz site)

T. E. Breitenbach's Castle

T. E. Breitenbach's Castle.

I've had this one in the "links" section for a while, but apparently forgot to write a little something about it. T. E. Breitenbach's castle is an owner built castle that doubles as an artist's studio, classroom for art classes, and gallery. Mr. Breitenbach built his castle out of concrete block and veneered it himself with large stones. Absolutely worth looking at his site, the art is fun to see (reminds me of Bosch or Dali, except much lighter in mood), and maybe you could sign up for a lesson or tour while you are there.

Busboom Castle (and the second interview for the site!)

Busboom Castle is an owner built castle near Mahomet, IL.

Mr. Bruce Busboom has taken the time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for this blog about his castle. Without further ado, here's what he had to say:

How did you become inspired to build a castle?

I'd been a carpenter all my adult life, remodeled older houses, etc. and always wanted to build a new 'dream' house. When I started perusing house plans, none of them fit the 'dream' category. So I started sketching and estimating and resketching until I made it affordable.

What prompted you to actually start building?

I started stockpiling materials in 1987, stuff that went on sale, etc. I built all my own windows, cast the stone crennelations, drawbridge, etc. Finally it was time to start digging the foundation in 1993 and the ball was rolling. It's a big ball that cannot stop once it's started.

How much planning did you do?

I spent about five years sketching and planning. You can't do too much planning...it will pay off later ten-fold. In my mind, I drove every screw and nail five times before I actually installed it, every detail haunted my sleep.

Were there any difficulties with local laws/building codes/inspectors that you had to deal with?

No, luckily. I was building out in the country, and the county didn't have a real comprensive zoning law (at that time. They do NOW!). All they required was a sketch of the floor plan, which I provided. You couldn't readily tell from the floor plan that it was going to be a castle.

Was there any difficulty in obtaining financing for an unusual building like a castle?

I saved up for 20 years, worked three jobs, so I was able to buy all the materials without a loan.

How large is your castle?

5100 sq. ft., but that is not a real good description of size, since the ceiling in the Great Hall is 22 feet high. It contains the same volume as three 2500 sq. ft. houses.

What is it constructed of?

The exterior is 8" thick concrete 'split-face' block with special waterproofing additives. They are tied to the interior stud walls with galvanized metal, but there is a 1 1/2" airspace between the block and the first layer of insulation - 2" extruded foam. The foam is glued and nailed to the outside of the studs, 3 1/2" fiberglass insulation in the stud cavities, then 1/2" O.S.B. screwed to the inside of the studs. Aluminum foil is glued over that, finally a layer of drywall on the inside.

How long did it take to build?

Nine years.

Approximately how much did it cost?

$120,000 - but that was in 1987-1993 dollars, and I bought everything on sale. It would cost at least three times that today, plus the cost of the land.

How much work did you do yourself?

Virtually all of it. I had friends stop in and help occassionally (51 of them), and my step-father was there for moral support. I hired a backhoe operator to dig the footings, cement finishers for the flat concrete, and when I got behind in the fall I hired three bricklayers to help with laying the block. I spent about $9,000 on labor. I did ductwork, wiring, plumbing, everything. I made my own trim, door jambs, etc.

Are there any special or unique features that you'd like to mention?

I think my castle has the only real, working drawbridge in the USA. I cannot find any evidence of another drawbridge except the Cinderella Castle at Disney World, but it hasn't been operated since 1980 for some reason. I would like to know if anyone has information to the contrary. The oak and brass elevator is pretty cool too.

Are there any special "green" or "environmentally friendly" features included in the construction of your castle?

Oh yes. If LEED ratings had been around then it would have qualified for a "gold" rating. Everything was obtained locally, recycled when possible, I cut down as few trees as possible and reused the lumber. As far as energy efficiency, my electric bill for the month of July was $20.97, keeping the indoor air temp at 74degF. Not bad for that large of a space. I am not kidding.

Any services you could provide would-be castle builders?

The most interest I've seen is in how the drawbridge operator was designed. Most of the castles I've seen just have a stationary drawbridge with chains hooked up to the side. They are still definitely cool though.

Any advice for would-be castle builders?
Make sure your wife is on board. And make her be involved in the planning and construction. I am now divorced, I can't afford to keep the castle and am finding out it is a 'white elephant' on the real estate market. Be sure it's what you want and that you want to keep it for a long time! And GOOD LUCK! Pursue your dreams...it is easier than you might think.

Anything else you'd like to add...

Busboom Castle is for rent, by the day, weekend, week or month! If you'd like to spend an evening or romanitic weekend and have the whole place to yourself, to get some ideas or make sure a castle is what you want, it is only $300 a night (including brunch).

Stop by the websites to support your fellow castle builder!

www.busboomcastle.com
Castle for rent, day, weekends, week or month

www.the-one-of-a-kind-store.com
Gags and Gifts, Uniques and Antiques, Art and Artifacts, Oddities and Novelties!

Many, many thanks to Mr. Busboom for returning my emails and allowing me to share this information with other would-be castle builders.

Fieldstone Castle (Old Man's Castle)

This castle is somewhere near Franklin, New Hampsire; it came up while digging through long defunct Geocities sites. These folks are truly building a DIY castle out of local materials one stone at a time. One of the pages is titled "How to build a fieldstone castle, cheap." The tower in the picture apparently only cost $2000. The site has a crazy layout and it's not the easiest to get around, but there's some interesting information there. I've sent an email in hopes that I can get more information about the castle and how it was built to share here. I'll post more if it happens.

EDIT: After returning and checking the site out more, I don't think the resulting room is anywhere near castle-like. I'll leave the post here all the same as the site shows how to build with stone and cement cheaply, which is still useful and interesting.

Is this for real?

Realms of Legend.

The plan for this idea seems to be a small city and to have the largest castle and grounds in the United States. It certainly doesn't appear to be something that could be built by one or even a few people, and looks like it should require a large number of investors, lots and lots of money, and years to construct. Interesting idea, but the lack of updates to the site since the earlier parts of this year makes me wonder if the idea is no longer being pursued... I'll just have to categorize this one with the rest of the "wish castles" until something more substantial shows up on the site.

Contact from across the pond...

A visitor to the site from Europe stopped by and made a very good point, and something that I should've posted about a while back: The use of steel in construction. When building with ICF, CMUs or even slipform methods, we all think of the need for using steel reinforcement such as re-bar. There are a lot more uses for steel in modern construction though. There are steel framing components, steel floor joists, and even steel ridge beams. The steel ridge beam is pretty fresh in my memory; a friend of mine built his own house in New Hampshire. He needed a roof ridge beam (the part that holds up the crest or peak of the roof that can run the span of the building) that would take a load of around 55 pounds per square foot due to the snow load requirements needed to meet local code. Most ridge beams aren't terribly long, due to load bearing walls below they can be supported at various points along the span and not need to be engineered to a large size, or of a length that would have difficulty supporting the aforementioned weight. Basically, the longer the span, the thicker and stronger the beam must be to support any weight it must bear. His span went the full length of the building with no support except at the ends. He spent weeks on the phone trying to find a company that could supply an engineered wooden beam that would meet the specifications he needed, the closest any company came was over $3000 for a beam that could only support only 53 pounds per square foot. Finally, someone clued him in to the fact that he could use a steel ridge beam. Sure enough, he found a company that within one week was able to engineer and manufacture a steel ridge beam and supports, pre-drilled and delivered, for $1300. The reason this may be beneficial to castle builders may wish to support a long roof span without support beams interrupting the space below, and steel may be a way to make that happen. The visitor also suggested that the steel could be covered with a wood veneer to hide it if it is exposed to view, also an excellent point.

Thanks Mark, good luck with your castle!

(Examples I found on the web: the photo shows what appears to be a 4"x14" wooden ridge beam, the other photo is a steel ridge beam.)

Yeti Stone

Yeti Stone is located in Maine.

If you live in the Northeast and need someone who can build walls or buildings, quarry stone on or off site, or just about any other service associated with traditional stone working, have a look at Yeti Stone. The services described would be fit for a castle or a palace, take a look at the examples on the site. This individual will travel to your site and be a dedicated mason, and is willing to work with an owner to come up with affordable costs. Cost estimates to (hopefully) come when I get the "standard castle" designed.