Ghost Towns of Nevada: Goldfield and Gold Point NV; Car Forest, NV; Hard Luck Castle, NV; Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Inyo Forest, CA; CARMA Telescope Array, July 2014
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Stupidly, I never took a photo of the full view of the Hard Luck Castle, although I have quite a few photos of the interior, as you'll see. |
The sense of humor pervadees the place. Near the entrance to the Hard Luck Castle, as seen in the distance. |
The ramp leading to the front entrance of the Hard Luck Castle in Esmerelda County, Nevada, about three and a half hours north of Las Vegas. |
 The entrance to Randy Johnston's castle, the Hard Luck Castle. |
 A maze greets people who enter through the main foyer. Randy's dog was too tired to figure out the maze, deciding to cool itself on the floor during the hot July day. |
 This is one of two working pipe organs inside the Hard Luck Castle. |
 The high celings on the ground floor, with the other working pipe organ. |
As Randy describes on his Hard Luck Castle website: The four-story, 8,000 square foot fortress has 16-inch walls and was built with 24,000 bricks, over 1000 yards of concrete, and more than seven tons of rebar. The mostly circular citadel is entirely powered by wind and solar, with redundant back-up generators. The estate has a theater and casino game room, auto and wood shops, four bedrooms and three full baths, two kitchens, and a great room with two working pipe organs. Mr. Johnston offers guided tours of the castle and shares his thoughts and dreams of building in the desert. This remote property is surrounded by thousands of acres of BLM land. Remote, desolate, secluded, private - all describe the Hard Luck Mine Castle. Nearly thirteen years of construction have gone into the building of this Gothic style Castle. With the help of friends, Mr. Johnstons has created a Castle that mirrors that of Death Valley Scotty's Castle (20 miles away). The Castle foundation is 50 feet in diameter and consists of 65 yards of special concrete and the footings are on solid rock - this fortress is not going anywhere soon. There are about 24,000 concrete blocks in the 16 inch thick walls. The Hard Luck Mine is a unique property that can provide for an escape, retreat, or remote compound for any individual or group desiring the ultimate in remote privacy and looking to disappear from society. Very little mining has been done since the beginning of WWII, but the potential is there. The existing vertical mine shaft descends approximately 160 ft. and there is also a horizontal shaft useful as a tightly secured storage area. The compound is completely self contained, off the grid, and can be separated from the rest of world. Water is trucked in from a nearby spring and stored in a 4,000 gallon underground storage tank providing gravity-fed water. Electricity is provided by Solar and Wind power with 3 types of backup generators - gasoline, LP gas, and diesel. There is no lack in amenities here.
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 Upstairs, the kitchen, with Randy Johnston keeping cool wtih a cold bottle of water. |
 The view from the window. The Hard Luck Castle is not far from the more famous Scotty's Castle in Death Valley. |
 Randy Johnston viewing the desert below. |
 The inner workings of one of the pipe organs in the Hard Luck Castle. |
The "Oreo Middle" of the castle, looking down the spiral stairs at the fountain on the ground floor. |
This is the observation deck on the top of the Hard Luck Castle, a place where one can drink wine and gaze at the stars. And this would be an excellent place to do it. Miles and miles from anywhere, there is hardly any light pollution to blot out the stars, and is noticeably darker than Death Valley. Groups occasionally rent out the Hard Luck Castle for star parties. |
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Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand,
Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines,
websites, and galleries. Visit the
Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be
purchased through his
Imagekind Store. Join the fun and participation on Ken's Facebook Page. |
Ghost Towns of Nevada: Goldfield and Gold Point NV;Car Forest, NV; Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Inyo Forest, CA; CARMA Telescope Array, July 2014
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use the ice cream trucks to navigate
Eleven Shadows Travel Page
Contact photographer/musician Ken Lee
Sunday 13 July 2014, continued:
Looking up at the ceiling from the ground floor, where the two pipe organs are housed, in the Hard Luck Castle, built by Randy Johnston, a labor of love.
Another view of the first pipe organ.
