19 replies to this topic

[TXKing]

Does anyone have any details on the Lake Worth Castle? Was the building originally someone's home?
Has anyone ever seen the inside of it? or have pictures of it when it from its heyday?

[courtnie]

I have been inside of the castle. It has a bedroom upstairs in the front of the house and a bathroom. and a court yard. it was in really bad shape when I saw it but it has since been bought and redone. It was originally a farm house. It was a residence for many years. The people who live around the castle have always hated it due to the fact that it gets so much attention. It has an underground tunnel that leads to the pier across the street. I cant remember the names of the people who bought it and turned it into a castle...its a very intersting peice of history. It was on the market for 300k but due to the fire that was set it went for around 100k I wanted to purchase it myself but couldnt at the time. I belive it is a resort now and the owners bought the bar from the spagetti warehouse in the stockyards I have a reallycool pic of it that I need to post. They at one time had guards around it 24/7 because of the thrill seekers..

[FWMike]

Here are a couple of sites with some info:

WHITING CASTLE/ LAKE WORTH CASTLE/ CASTLE OF HERON BAY


Castle of Heron Bay

[courtnie]

Ok...i was pretty close on the amounts..im glad to see it restored...

[Stadtplan]

Ok...i was pretty close on the amounts..im glad to see it restored...

 

We drove by the castle last week and I personally wouldn't call it restored yet. I saw some framing on the east side and it appeared to still have fire damage on other parts, but I'm not really sure because we didn't stop and get out or anything like that and it appears that people are occupying part of the property. We always enjoy driving past despite what the neighbors might think. I am really looking forward to the day when we drive by and see the castle restored. It would be interesting to hear from the current owners on this forum and for them to elaborate on their restoration plans and progress. By the way courtnie, how did you happen to see the inside or was that before they installed razor wire?

[courtnie]

no, i didnt tresspass...My Parents know the person at the city that was in charge of selling it, he knew i adore history and old houses and offered for us to see it.... I mis spoke i should have said partially restored. I would advise stopping or even getting out to take pictures..if you tarry too long the police might stop you..they watch the house.

[Stadtplan]

no, i didnt tresspass...My Parents know the person at the city that was in charge of selling it, he knew i adore history and old houses and offered for us to see it.... I mis spoke i should have said partially restored.  I would advise stopping or even getting out to take pictures..if you tarry too long the police might stop you..they watch the house.

 

We were just passing through at the time but there was a person walking around on site and I assumed s/he was one of the owners or caretakers. Herron Dr. is one of our very alternate but very scenic routes for avoiding Lake Worth, although mostly to see the castle. I would like to know more about the design intentions of the tunnel underneath the road and if it still exists. Herron Dr. is not exactly a major thoroughfare that would warrant a tunnel as to avoid getting run over by traffic so I'm going to assume that it was fitting of the castle theme to have secret entrances and exits.

[courtnie]

The tunnel was built at the same time the house became a castle. durning the war generals and upper officers stayed there, they entered and exited through the tunnel. During proabition they ran a speak easy there..most of the tunnel is underwater now..it leads to the dock. as you can see the house has alot of mystery surrounding it..thats for sure..

[pmburk]

How exactly does one get to the area to drive past the castle? I've been fascinated by it for years but have never quite figured out how to get over there.

I seem to remember that the house had some type of connection to Jimmy Stewart when he was in Fort Worth filming Strategic Air Command. Maybe he stayed in the house, or something?

"Facade Nord" in the Eagle Mountain Lake area is interesting as well, although not as old:
http://dupontcastle....tles/facade.htm

[courtnie]

yes that is an intersting castle over at Eagle Mountian Lake...get on 820 get off a silver creek and make a right if you are going south towards white settlement and I-30 that road will wind around and when you come to a big curve heron drive is off to your right take it and wind around and you will see the castle on your right...you can also get there by going down las vegas trail off of 820 but its more complicated and i know how to go that way but cant give you directions that way..

[mosteijn]

How exactly does one get to the area to drive past the castle? I've been fascinated by it for years but have never quite figured out how to get over there.

 

I think this aerial pic from dfwmaps.com should pretty much sum it up. I think it's easier just to take Las Vegas trail, but you should drive down the rest of Heron Dr. to Silver Creek because it is a very scenic drive.

This castle would make an AMAZING hotel or B&B, don't you think? If they included the land on Lake Worth in front of the castle they could even have thier own private dock and whatnot. Man that would be so cool...

[Funkdoobiest]

We went to a party there a few years ago, but it was down in the back. It wasn't till afterwards we realized nobody lived there, it was boarded up. A bunch of kids just lit up some fires, turned on some music had brought some beer.

[courtnie]

It was suppost to be a resort.... im not sure whats going on with it now. I havent driven by it in a long time. Before it was sold it was burned by vandles and was in really bad shape so whoever got it had alot of work to do. They did have security out there 24/7 for a while...Ill have to take a "moonlight drive" by it again and see how it looks...sorry...had to quote Morrison..haha

[m lambert]

The Lake Worth Castle has new owners and it being completely fixed up.

[courtnie]

Really who? What are they going to do with it?? I really hope that they restore it to its former glory!!

[FortWorthLowrider]

As a kid we would drive around lake worth for fun. I loved that castle. Brings back memories just thinking about it.

[starwish2016]

What is the address of the castle?

[mmmdan]

Not sure if it's the exact address, but google says it's 9115 Heron Dr

 

http://goo.gl/maps/7wrcr

[WestSide44]

My father bought "The Castle" in 1954 or 1955 as I recall. I was just going into the 5th grade. The castle had suffered a serious fire a year or two previous and had been partially restored to the extent that a new roof had been installed on the main house. We lived in what was referred to as the guest house on the west side of the castle. We lived there for about 4 years at which point my father sold it and we moved to the other side of Lake Worth. The amount of work necessary to make the castle itself livable was far more than anyone estimated and there was much work left to be done.

There was the large BR upstairs in the turret at the front, an indoor fountain with leaded stained glass windows off the living room to the west. The rounded door to the right if the turret brought you into the fountain room. Two more BRs connected off that room with two bathrooms one if which had a shower with about 6 shower heads. Quite a fixture for it's time.

Off the living room to the east was another room with flagstone floor in the center of which was a large 5 pointed star. Another BR adjoined this room and, as I recall, another bathroom. An outside door took you into a screened in garden which opened to the servants' quarters on the east side. This is the structure with the tall tower.

There was a single BR in the servants quarters and a bathroom. The tower had a small round room at the lower level while the upper level contained a water storage tank. The water well was beneath the tower in sort of a half basement.

Every BR had a fireplace as did the main room in the lower level of the turret; at least 6 in all. There was a basement under the main room with an old boiler in it. Never knew if it was gas or oil fired. The comments about the presence of a tunnel surprise me as my brothers and I roamed all over that place and never saw anything that resembled a tunnel opening. The small stone structure across the road lakeside was empty and had a concrete floor and was far enough from the water's edge that it could hardly be used to surreptitiously move anything from a boat without being easily seen by anyone driving by.

The dock and boat house had to have been spectacular at one time with their red tile roofs. The dock was built of stone with an earthen fill and was sufficient to drive automobiles onto. There was a circular drive from the main road to the dock that no longer appears on Google maps. The drive extended from each main gate, curving toward the dock then back up to the other gate.The boat house did not open to the lake so a boat entered from the shore side; a problematic maneuver when the lake level fell. All of that structure was merely a pile of rubble the last time I saw it.

I'm not sure how much land was part of the estate, 20+ likely, but there was a stable and barn to the south of the castle and at one time a friend if my parents kept a horse there. A subsequent owner of the place installed a swimming pool which appears to be still in place viewing on a Google maps. The driveway circled completely around the main structure with a side road leading back to the stable. I learned to drive on that driveway.

As I said earlier, the place burned in the early '50's making it difficult to believe that Jimmy Stewart had stayed there during the filming if the movie Strategic Air Command. The movie was released in 1955 and we lived there from '54 to about '59 but, as I don't know when the movie scenes at Carswell were filmed,  I guess it's possible Stewart visited. In fact, just thinking about the condition of the place when we lived there, the fire probably had to have occurred maybe 5 years previous. The Castle has burned at least twice more and the last time I drove by, 6 or 7 years ago, it was surrounded by coils of razor wire with security people patrolling the place.

There may be a collection of photographs of the interior in its heyday still in existence and, if one of my brothers has them, I'll see if they can be scanned and uploaded to the forum. Someone with very deep pockets could indeed make it into a delightful B&B. The operative phrase there is "deep pockets". 

 

BTW, in all the years we lived there, I never had a sense that the place was haunted and never heard any stories about anyone dying there.

[Mtuggle76]

I’ve posted this a few days ago but I’ll post again. Back in the 80s my best friends mother rented the guest house there. It was on the right side of the castle when looking at it from the road. The owners name, I believe was Richard. I don’t recall his last name. He was a pilot.  I think it was American he flew for, not totally sure. He was from France from what I was told. My pal and I would run around and play all around the castle, inside and outside.  I remember in some sort of parlor or living room the floor tile came to a four point star. There was an old pool that was empty due to it needing severe repair.  Richard had goats in the property.  He used to take us out on his ski boat, I never saw him use the castle dock, always trailers it to the boat ramp. Richard used to get my mom going saying the castle was haunted. I remember hear mom say he used to give tours of the castle.  The old whiting castle has some write ups on it and an internet search should turn up easily. Jimmy Stewart lived there supposedly during filming of strategic air command.  Sad about the vandalism, old historic place and these stupid kids ruined it.