Scotty's Castle is the name of a beautiful Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style home located along Scotty's Castle Road in northern Death Valley in eastern California near the Nevada border. The landmark home is also known as Death Valley Ranch but almost everyone calls it Scotty's Castle.

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Scotty's Castle was built from 1922 to 1931 by Chicago insurance magnate and millionaire Walter Johnson and his wife Bessie. In the early 1900's the Johnsons were swindled out of some money by Walter Scott who was known as Death Valley Scotty. Scott convinced Johnson he had a gold mine in Death Valley and needed an investor to develop the mine. It was all a lie which Johnson soon realized but the scheme interested Johnson in Death Valley.

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Johnson eventually forgave Scott for swindling him and bought and started developing land in Death Valley and started building Death Valley Ranch in 1922 as a vacation home. Walter Scott told everyone in the area he was building the home and everyone started calling it Scotty's Castle.

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Johnson did not mind and both he and his wife loved the sunny warm climate in Death Valley.

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During the Great Depression Johnson's insurance company went bankrupt and all work on Scotty's Castle was permanently stopped in 1931 but the home was nearly finished by that time. To keep the place in shape Scotty's Castle was turned into a hotel and tourist attraction offering tours. Many Hollywood stars visited Scotty's Castle and all the stars and tourists actually thought Death Valley Scotty owned he place.

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When the Johnsons died in the 1940's they willed Scotty's Castle to the Gospel Foundation of California which kept running Scotty's Castle as a hotel and tourist attraction. The Johnsons also willed that Walter Scott could live in the castle for the rest of his life which ended in 1954. Death Valley Scotty is buried on a hill above the castle.

Image Source by Mila Zinkova (Scotty's grave above Scotty's Castle in Death Valley, CA)

In 1970 the National Park Service bought Scotty's Castle and runs it today as a tourist attraction in Death Valley. Visitors to the beautiful landmark home can tour the castle as well as tour the secret tunnels and passageways underneath the castle. Over 100,000 people visit Scotty's Castle every year and a trip to Death Valley is not really complete without seeing this beautiful landmark castle home in California.

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Sources:http://www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/scottys-castle.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotty's_Castle