Medieval Castle being built

[slow_walker]

Thirty masons, carpenters and stone carvers authentically dressed, will work all year round for twenty years, the time required to build a fortress in the Middle Ages.

In Lead Hill, Arkansas

http://ozarkmedievalfortress.com/en-us/

[jakethesartech2]

thats going to be awesome. when it gets...finished.....in 20 years...

[bgould]

Trust me, those 20 years are going to pass one way or another. Might as well build a castle.

[cousin]

hmmm.... sounds like it will be a fun place to explore in a few years, when it's given up on...

[jakethesartech2]

yea, i dont know how long itll last haha

[Freak]

Lol, good luck finding 5 idiots who will spend 20 years on something like that, not to mention thirty idiots. I bet within a year 50% of them will flake out, the next year another 50% of the remainder, and it'll be given up on within 3 years.

Stuff like this sounds kind of cool, but what the fuck is the thought process here? "Well, we're a bunch of idle yuppies who like to build shit, we could volunteer for habitat for humanity, or build housing in third world countries, but instead we're going to REALLY make a difference by housing poor homeless LARPers!"

Actually fuck it, I'm so impressed by their wankerism that I just sent something along those lines to their contact form

[testube]

Cool - thanks for sharing the link.

Reminds me of the long term plans of Bishop Castle near Rye, Colorado. That guy's been working on his castle for decades. It's pretty amazing, in a scary "please don't collapse under my feet" sort of way. As you walk up to it, he's got all kinds of posters that say "Enter at Your Own Risk" and other such disclaimers (as well as a ration of politically minded Libertarian-type jargon). The county has tried to shut him down a number of times over the years, but somehow he has prevailed. The last time I visited was about four years ago.

Here are a few pics I found: http://giltphoto.com/BishopCastle.htm

[Freak]

Lol, the stuff on top looks like a more redneck version of the City Museum!

I wonder how long Bishop Castle will last once the dude stops maintaining it. Looks like it's made out of small rocks cemented together, one good fire and the interior will be gone, plus the cement will be weakened. At least the yuppiecastle looks like it will last a while, after it's eventually abandoned and torched by teenagers the structure should hold together.

Here's an abandoned castle in Wales that I got a chance to look at a few years ago. The interior is toast, but all the brick and stonework is of the high-quality long-lasting type!

[testube]

Wow - those pics are awesome. Yeah, I don't think there's much here in the states that can compare with the castles in Europe.

I was reading more about this new Ozark Castle, and their approach is actually quite different from the guy who did Bishop Castle. In fact, the only real similarity is that they are both longterm castle projects.

Perhaps I'll check out the Ozark Castle in 20 years or so. It sounds like an exciting project. But I can't understand who would be willing to *pay* to be a volunteer, without at least getting some sort of free room and board. I guess if you look at it like education, it would make sense...maybe...sure.

[Freak]

Lol, that's even better, you have to pay to participate in this thing? Oh yeah, those are life skills that will serve you well in the future when everyone is building castles, too bad your back and joints will be destroyed by the time you're finished in 20 years.

These guys read too much SM Stirling

[Kit]

It sounded a bit like the visioncon thing where you had to pay to volunteer

[testube]

Yeah, it says something along the lines of "for a small fee"...

and then they mention all of the lodging options in the area, including Big Cedar (Big $$$).

Reminds me a little of those strawbale building workshops, where you pay to help them build houses on their property. You gain experience for your money, and they get free home construction, albeit with amateur workmanship. But at least they usually include room/board.

This one sounds more like an expensive medieval serf-style vacation.

[cobcob]

I checked the website and there's a number of roles you can fill as a "volunteer" for "a small fee"

[Riggz13]

Lol, good luck finding 5 idiots who will spend 20 years on something like that, not to mention thirty idiots.

Easy, just find 30 kids who drop out of college and need part time jobs. That first year they'll tell all their friends "Yeah, this is just a part time thing until I can get back in school" and 20 years later they'll have 2 kids, an ex-wife and the castle will be finished and they can go start a new career at McDonalds.

[Kit]

Lol, good luck finding 5 idiots who will spend 20 years on something like that, not to mention thirty idiots.

Easy, just find 30 kids who drop out of college and need part time jobs. That first year they'll tell all their friends "Yeah, this is just a part time thing until I can get back in school" and 20 years later they'll have 2 kids, an ex-wife and the castle will be finished and they can go start a new career at McDonalds.

that would only work if they were being paid lol