Monday, April 26, 2010

Scotty’s Castle—My world

No trip to Death Valley would be complete without a visit to Scotty’s Castle.

Outside

The castle is well above the valley floor at an elevation of 4000’.  It is still plenty hot in the summer but not as hot as Furnace Creek.

The interior is kept dark, all the curtains pulled to protect the fabrics.  Flash is allowed but I found I liked the effect better if I increased the ISO to 1600 and didn’t use flash.

The “castle” didn’t actually belong to Scotty and he didn’t live there, but he did have a room of his own.  The owners of the “Castle”, Albert and Bessie Johnson, provided him a home elsewhere.  Scotty would come to the Ranch to entertain the Johnson’s visitors with his tall tales.

They enjoyed entertaining and the large dining room shows they could feed quite a few.

There were four or five bedrooms, another indication that they liked to entertain as they had no children.

Above the daybed is displayed a small part of Bessie’s collection of native baskets.  I like the drop down desk.

Beautiful tile work and pottery is found through out.

The music room must have been a favorite with visitors.  Behind this screen was a pipe organ.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of Scotty's Castle.  Tour more places from around the world at My World Tuesday, hosted for us by  Klaus, Sandy, Wren Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

16 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

That looks like a marvelous place! So much atmosphere. Sends my imagination to a warmer climate!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Great post. I've read elsewhere about Scotty's castle but yours are the most varied photo's I've seen of the place. I'm considering putting it on my bucket list.

Paulie said...

All very interesting but I liked the drop down desk also.

Sylvia K said...

What a fun post! I, too, have heard of Scotty's castle and read about it, but your photos are superb! Would really enjoy a visit there! Looks like a fun place! Have a great week, Martha!

Sylvia

Joanne Olivieri said...

Love this post. The music room looks so peaceful and I love that pottery. Fantastic shots.

Gaelyn said...

Great tour Martha! The Johnsons were so ahead of their time with the building ideas. I too really liked Bessie's drop down desk. It may be cooler than Furnace Creek but still too hot for me during summer.

Jim said...

This is great to see.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Carolyn Ford said...

Great tour, I agree! That is quite the place out there in the middle of no where...as far as living is concerned...back in the days before resorts drew in people. I am always amazed to think of how people live like that...but, they sure had a very nice place.

Ebie said...

Thanks for this tour, it has saved us the fee (giggles). When we went there, we just took outdoor photos. We were pressed for time. We are hopefully coming back this Fall, and we will include this as part of our itinerary.

Linda Reeder said...

When we visited Death Valley two years ago we didn't go inside the castle so it's fun to see what we missed

Diane AZ said...

Fascinating place. I like the basket collection and all the tile and wood work and pottery.

fredamans said...

Lovely photos! Thank you for the virtual tour!

Noelle Johnson said...

Hello Martha,

I have enjoyed the tour of Death Valley very much. I definitely would like to visit someday. Scotty's Castle is beautiful. It does remind me that desert dwellers do not mind the shades being drawn over the windows in the summer :-)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

A great tour Martha. He was quite an amazing character Old Scotty!

Barb said...

All that embroidery, tile work, filagree. and woodwork make for very interesting photos, Martha. I've never used that high an ISO! Thanks for the tour!

Linnea said...

Thanks for the tour. I've been to Death Valley but never stopped by Scotty's castle...love the name! It's really a fascinating place in the middle of the desert.