Arizona's Mystery Castle

One of the greatest things about Arizona for me is that fact that anywhere you go in the state, you can find an out of the way attraction that has real character to it, and Arizona's very own Mystery Castle is certainly no exception to the rule. Mystery Castle is located just out of Phoenix city limits and while its incredibly easy to find, if you're not looking for it you can easily pass right by and be none the wiser. From just about anywhere in Phoenix, take Central Ave South past Dobbins Road and then head East once you get to Mineral Road. You'll have to take a short detour through a housing development, but as long as you stay on the road you'll soon run right into the Mystery Castle.

You can visit the castle Thursday-Sunday from about 11am until 4 pm during the months of October through mid June. I'd recommend getting there as early in the morning as possible if you are not used to the Arizona weather because it gets hot in a hurry during the Arizona summer. The tours around the castle start every 30 minutes or so (in case you haven't caught on, everything here is about as laid back as you get) and you can expect it to take right around an hour to tour the entire house. Admission is only $5 for adults and $3 for children, but if you have purchased the Entertainment coupon book, there is a coupon for buy one get one free admission that will easily qualify this as a free trip. (Remember, anything under $10 for a couple is free!)

While the story behind Mystery Castle is a bit of a sad one, it's heartwarming at the same time. Back around 1930 or so, a man by the name of Boyce Gulley was diagnosed with terminal Tuberculosis. Not wanting to give the disease to his young daughter Mary Lou, Gulley headed to the Arizona desert to die alone and away from his family. 15 years after he left, Mary Lou got a note from a lawyer that she was now the proud owner of a castle in Phoenix, Arizona. The story is much more involved than that but I don't want to spoil it for everyone.

The castle itself is over 8800 square feet and has 4 levels (that's if you count the room on the roof and the trap door to the cellar where Gulley left his wife and daughter his biggest surprise) and each room of the castle has a different theme. The entire castle is built with materials that Boyce found in the desert and around the city, he even destroyed his own car in order to build parts of the castle. While you are touring the house, you'll see memorabilia from some of the most famous people of the 40's to the 70's scattered around.

At the end of your tour, make sure you look around for the sweet old lady with all the spunk. Mary Lou, the little girl that the entire castle was built for still makes the castle her home. My girlfriend and I stopped to talk with her about the Castle, her father, and life in general and before we knew it, we'd been sitting on her living room floor talking with her for nearly two hours. I highly recommend this trip to anyone that visits the Phoenix area, or anyone that lives here currently, it is not a trip you will soon forget.

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