Mystery Castle

After learning he had tuberculosis, Gulley moved from Seattle to the Phoenix area and began building the house from found or inexpensive materials.

Their story attracted attention, giving the home some renown as well as its exotic name: A Life Magazine story (January 26, 1948)[1] used the headline "Life Visits a Mystery Castle: A Young Girl Rules Over the Strange Secrets of a Fairy Tale Dream House in the Arizona Desert."

Said to be held together by a combination of mortar, cement, calcium, and goat milk, the sprawling 18-room, three story castle is built from a wide range of materials – stone, adobe, automobile parts, salvaged rail tracks from a mine, telephone poles, etc.

As the housing boom progressed in Phoenix, new development encroached close to the castle and its grounds, making it far less isolated.

Mary Lou Gulley died on November 3, 2010 and the property has since been maintained by the Mystery Castle Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization.