The castle has been host to some 350 weddings over the years, Bishop guessed. “He’s in heaven.”īishop is not a religious man - he doesn’t believe in it, much like his feelings on the White House - but he talks about God often. He walks over there occasionally to pick up trash, the same place where his 4-year-old son, Roy, died in a tree-felling accident more than 30 years ago. He’s adapted with age, learning to pivot on his feet to save himself steps.īishop looked across the two-lane road. With great care, Bishop tossed the rocks on top of one another. Clad in a blue, stained “Jim Bishop” polo shirt and worn jeans, the builder remarked that his joints feel “real good” today - though one of his hands was visibly swollen, an ace bandage wrapped around it.
“They’re more likely to donate if I do,” Bishop said with a smile.Īfter loading up his yellow wheelbarrow, Bishop slowly pushed it down the hill, pausing at the bottom to rest. Visitors from El Salvador stopped Bishop to take pictures with him in front of his life’s work and he happily obliged. Richardson, The Denver PostBishop Castle has one tower that stands over 160 feet tall and a dragon head made of discarded stainless steel hospital trays. His current project consists of building a wall around the entire property, a task that will take him the rest of his life, he said. On a recent November day, the air unusually mild under an overcast sky, Bishop came to his castle ready to work - at least for a short while.
It’s such a unique architectural phenomenon - just the history of how it was built, how quirky it is.” “Bishop Castle is one of our main attractions in Custer County. “We don’t have a lot going on,” said Deb Adams, Custer County’s tourism chair, with a laugh. It’s featured on travel sites like Tripadvisor and has been promoted on countless travel lists - “ 13 of the most Instagramable locations in Colorado” or “ Ten Weird and Wonderful Colorado Attractions.” The castle is hardly a local secret anymore. On his website, Bishop claims his castle is the country’s - and maybe even the world’s - largest one-man project, though he’s only been on a plane twice in his life. So he continued to build… and build… and build. Bishop’s father wanted nothing to do with a project of that magnitude, but Jim Bishop saw something there. 16, 2021.Īs they built, neighbors remarked that the building looked awfully like a castle. Richardson, The Denver PostJim Bishop walks on the metal stairs high up on Bishop Castle near Rye on Nov. He vows never to sell the land. But it all feels a bit weird to Dan. He’s building a new gift shop to replace the one that burned down in 2018 and may eventually connect the bridge that leads to nowhere. “But if this probation goes too long, I’ll say, ‘Go to hell!'”ĭan Bishop isn’t sure what’s next for Bishop Castle since there are no blueprints, just a vision from the creator himself. “Danny wants me to rest on my butt,” Jim Bishop said with a smile. These days, he spends more of his time taking medication and resting by the fire than stacking stones, his son Dan having taken over day-to-day operations of Bishop’s magnum opus. Frank Frink ( Rupert Evans) picks up and uses a discarded Type 14 in "Travelers".Colorado's Bishop Castle is transitioning from father to sonīut what happens when the king of the castle can no longer rule?īishop Castle, one of Colorado’s quirkiest roadside attractions, is in the midst of a transitional period after decades of autocratic rule - a bridge without a clear destination.īishop beat the cancer that doctors thought he’d never overcome, but Parkinson’s disease has taken a toll on the builder. Members of the Kempeitai, including Chief Inspector Takeshi Kido ( Joel de la Fuente) and Sergeant Hiroyuki Yoshida ( Lee Shorten) continue to carry the Nambu Type 14 as their main sidearm.