Bishop Castle, Architectural folly in Rye, Colorado

Bishop Castle is a hand-built stone structure in the Wet Mountains along State Highway 165, southwest of Pueblo, Colorado. It consists of rough granite, steel, and concrete: a slender round tower with slit openings and a white bulbous cap, a shorter tower topped by a sphere of crisscrossing metal bars, steep pointed metal-clad roofs, pointed-arch windows with dark grid panes and thin metal balconies, a straight metal staircase, and rounded arch openings at the base.

Jim Bishop began building in 1969 at age 15 on purchased land, initially intending to construct only a family home. Over the decades the project grew into a tower complex that he continued without plans or building permits.

Jim Bishop named the site after himself and built it by hand from granite, steel and concrete, without plans or permits. RoadsideAmerica.com called it "one man's massive-obsessive labor of medieval fantasy construction". Signs at the entrance remind visitors that Bishop built the castle alone, and donations are requested.

The site sits at 12705 State Highway 165 and opens daily from sunrise to sunset with no admission charge. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes because the stairs are steep and some passages narrow.

Jim Bishop's son Dan took over as caretaker after Jim died in Pueblo on November 21, 2024, at age 80. The castle survived the Aspen Acres Fire of June 29, 2026, when the site was evacuated, and re-opened to visitors on August 7, 2026. A 2018 fire destroyed the gift shop and a guest house but left the stone castle standing.