A couple weeks ago, Gary Lucido directed our attention to this wonderfully-bizarre, uncompleted castle in Oak Brook, which the builders have been trying to sell with big "KING WANTED" billboards on the Tri-State (Chicago mag has more). Then, later in the week, we received word that the drawbridge at the beloved Mars' Cheese Castle in Kenosha is nearly ready to come down. The Chicago area has always been home to a healthy dose of castle architecture, from the Water Tower and Potter Palmer's now-demolished "liver-colored goldfish castle" in the Gold Coast to Rudy Acosta's infamous 7,000-square-foot castle overlooking the Kennedy Expressway. In recent years, the blog Bright Lights Dim Beauty of Chicago has been keeping track of the mini castles of West Rogers Park, while Chicago mag's Dennis Rodkin has updated readers on this Medieval Times lookalike in Schaumburg.
Last month, we discovered this 8,000-square-foot Ravenswood castle, which is still on the market. Our favorite of the lot, however, is this Fox River Grove Castle, which was reportedly built by a railroad worker who was homesick for his native country of Luxemburg. (Sorry, folks, it's not for sale.) This list probably just scratches the surface, but if you're looking for a place to rest your sword and hang your coat of armor, it can probably be found somewhere in or near Chicago.
· Oak Brook Castle Still Looking For King [Getting Real]
· Grand Opening of New Mars Cheese Castle! [Mars Cheese Castle]
· John Kass visits Rudy Acosta's castle [YoChicago]
Loading comments...