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Fake Castles (page 2)

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Hope's Castle
Monte Vista, CO
Hope's Castle was built as an armory in 1922. In 1980, the building housed the JJ Restaurant & Lounge. The building was vacant for many years. It was adapted for office space in 2004. [map]

Wireless Wizard
Bridgeport, CT
 Blue Castle
Washington, DC
The Wireless Wizard was built around 2007. It has castle-related items inside as well. [map]

The Blue Castle was built in 1891 as a trolley car barn. It is currently occupied by the Eagle Academy Public Charter School. In 2005, there were plans to convert the building into retail space. However, as of 2010, the school is still there. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Tire King
Dover, DE
The Tire King building was originally a gas station. In the 1960s, Tire King took over. They expanded the office section at the right, keeping the same castle-like roofline. [map]

Round Table Sports Bar & Lounge
Miami, FL
2009:
 2021:
The Round Table Sports Bar & Lounge appears to be a castle-style adaptation of a 1940s building. Does anyone know the history of this building? [map]

Wynwood Castle
Miami, FL
Wynwood Castle was built in 1938. In recent years, the building has been used for storage, live entertainment, a yoga studio, and a firearms store. Does anyone know what it was originally used for? [map]

Beverage Castle was a Tampa area chain of drive-thru liquor stores with castle-style buildings. I believe these locations were built in the early 1980s. There were at least 13 of them built.

Beverage Castle
Tampa, FL
2009:
 2021:
This Tampa location has been vacant since at least 2009. [map]

Beverage Castle
Tampa, FL
Beverage Castle was apparently a Tampa area chain of drive-thru liquor stores with castle-style buildings. I believe these locations were built in the early 1980s. This Tampa location shown above is still operating. [map]

Beverage Castle
Tampa, FL
 Beverage Castle
Plant City, FL
This Tampa location has been operating as Beverage Island since at least 2008. [map]

This Plant City location is still operating. [map]

Beverage Castle
Lakeland, FL
 Beverage Castle
Lakeland, FL
This first Lakeland location shown above has been closed since at least 2016. [map]

This second Lakeland location shown above is still operating. [map]

Beverage Castle
Lakeland, FL
 Beverage Castle
Winter Haven, FL
This Lakeland location was painted bright pink around 2015. [map]

This Winter Haven location is still operating. [map]

former Beverage Castle
Riverview, FL
 former Beverage Castle
Auburndale, FL
This Riverview location was painted blue and began housing a car repair garage in 2018. Before that, it had a painted cobblestone facade when it was still operating as a Beverage Castle. The building was painted black around 2022 and now houses the El Patio Hookah Lounge. [map]

This Auburndale location was still operating in 2019. However, by this 2020 photo, the building had been painted grey and the business was gone. By 2022, it was repainted again and was housing the Sabor Kriollo Restaurant and Rosario's Restaurant. [map]

If you know of any other surviving Beverage Castle buildings, operating or adapted, I'd love to know about them.

Treasure Castle
Key Largo, FL
2009: 2020:
This castle building was housing the Treasure Castle antique store in 1994. It may have housed the Maritime Museum originally. The building was housing M.D. Custom Cycles by 2009. By 2015, the building was housing Sandal Castle. It now houses Kingdom Escape Games. The business' dragon statue was replaced with a giant throne around 2020. Does anyone know more about this building? [map]

Castle Keep Storage
Hudson, FL
 Magic Castle Inn & Suites
Kissimmee, FL
Castle Keep Storage was built in the early 1990s to resemble a castle. A "castle keep" was the safest part of the castle and where the most precious possessions were kept. [map]

The Magic Castle Inn & Suites was built around 1990. [map]

Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament
Kissimmee, FL
 Castle Otttis
St. Augustine, FL
This Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament was the first location in the chain. It opened in 1983. The second location opened in Buena Park, CA in 1986. There are now 10 locations with others in Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Toronto, Scottsdale, Myrtle Beach, Dallas, and Lyndhurst, NJ. For more, see this website. [map]

Castle Otttis was built from 1984-1991 as an open air sculpture based on Irish Castles. The castle was built by Ottis Sadler and Rusty Ickes. The interior was built by Lee Carpenter. Initially, there were public tours and the building could be rented for weddings. However, it is rarely open now. For more, see this website. [map]

Diamond Castle [gone]
Cocoa Beach, FL
The Diamond Castle is a pawn shop. Does anyone know what this building was originally used for and when it was built? These photos are from 2009. By 2011, the building had been remodeled. The details were removed but the building was painted to resemble a castle. By 2018, the castle paint was gone, too.

Solomon's Castle
Ona, FL
Solomon's Castle was built by Howard Solomon starting in 1972. The exterior is covered with discarded aluminum printing plates. In the 1990s, he built the "Boat in the Moat", a replica of a 16th Century Portuguese Galleon. It served as a restaurant next to the castle. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

More Florida:
Viking Motel (Kissimmee) [gone]
castle house (Wellington)

Pinball Palace
Brunswick, GA
The Pinball Palace opened in 2017. The building previously housed Katy's Kastle which was a party place for kids. I don't know when that opened but I assume that the castle details were added them. [map]

Castle House
Milton, GA

2009:
2021:
This Castle House was built by Rudy McLaughlin in 1950. Rudy was a retired truck driver at the time. The simulated moat was built as a swimming pool. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. By 2015, the arm on the gnome on the post by the northern entrance gate was broken and the other gnome was gone. There are two other gnomes by the southern gate that are intact. [map]

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