This reminded me of Bishop's Castle in Colorado, USA — an incredible project built almost entirely by one man (who sadly died last year) working on it nonstop for 40 years:
I visited this site once with some friends on a road trip... the guy building it (Bishop) started screaming the N-word at some black bikers and then calmly told them he wasn't racist and made some long rant about the government. We split very quickly as the dude was racist and crazy.
Wikipedia cites a travel book statung that while the place is "major fun", it warns that Bishop is a very unabashedly opinionated and potentially offensive person and will even bring up politics if you visit the castle.
That front stairway is like a bowl of brown M&Ms at a Van Halen concert. Given the code violations on the stairway (no landings [1]), I wouldn't trust the rest of the construction, especially the balconies.
Most fun at a rave I've ever had was at this castle. The guy built it free climbing the whole time and was in conflict with the government over how he got the rocks, which he mostly pulled from riverbeds on public land.
Another out there spot is in Lucas, Kansas. That guy was also fiercely anti-government.
Surely he would also be in conflict about building codes? How was this not stopped? Or is it all actually permitted?
To be clear, I like that this castle exists (although I also like that building and planning codes exist, so I guess I’m conflicted…), I’m just very surprised!
Building codes are extremely local, and not really federally regulated much. They’re consistent most places because jurisdictions will just copy paste them.
It does sound a bit like the Cheval’s Ideal Palace, well worth a visit as well (and also in France like Guédelon, though not in the same area): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Cheval