Growing up playing Minecraft made me always want to go build bases wherever I went. My parents knew this so whenever we visited my grandmother in Colorado we stopped at Bishop Castle. As a twelve year old seeing this whimsical castle it blew my mind and probably still would today. Bishop Castle is a cobblestone creation made by Jim Bishop who built it by himself excluding some help from his father. Seeing someone accomplish what I loved to do at such a grand scale was inspiring, Exploring each room within the castle and reaching the topmost parts of the castle made my visit there so much fun. I distinctly remember the roof being the coolest since it had bridges connecting the towers and provided a vantage point to admire the mountainous landscape near by. While I didn’t end up pursuing architecture, I hope I end up helping at some level with the construction of buildings and I attribute some of that desire to my visit to Bishop Castle.

Something I did not recognize as twelve year old was the castle’s defiance to the government. Jim Bishop had many legal disputes with the law in relation to his castle. From the rocks he used to its structural integrity, Bishop Castle stood for Jim Bishop’s political opinions which consisted of anti-government rhetoric. If you ever visit this interesting castle you can expect to see many political signs upon the property.