Coral Castle – A labor of love

Note from PugsleyTonks: It’s with much happiness that I welcome back my leading guest author, Goosebuster. It’s not just Ohio and Scotland where great castles can be found. Rather, there are a couple castles worth writing about in Florida too. So, I turn this post over to Goosebuster for the first installment in our Florida castle series. And never forget, you too can be a guest author…our standards are not high.

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Well yes, my post is about a castle in Florida. But, truth be told, I wrote it as a bit of a tribute to my wife on Valentine’s Day. However, PugsleyTonks droned on about something having to do with…”Valentines Day is just a construct of Hallmark…and it would not be a recognized holiday on this blog.” Now, here we are. As Valentines Day is now over, my post on a Florida castle can be released. So, in the very south of Florida, just outside of the everglades, my family and I discovered Coral Castle – A labor of love.

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Coral Garden is basically a personal residence and walled, sculpture garden. The walls, residence and sculptures are all made from the local limestone and coral. Furthermore, and amazingly enough, only one man using simple tools built the entire castle. That man was Ed Leedskalnin, an Latvian immigrant from a family of stonemasons. Somewhere around 1923, he built the original castle in Florida City, FL. However, in 1936, the construction of a new neighborhood development threatened Ed’s privacy. Ed spent the next three years moving his life’s work near to what is now Homestead, FL. Then, he continued to add on to the castle at this new location. The engineering techniques that allowed Ed to pull this off are shrouded in mystery. Ed would just say that he…”knew the secrets of the pyramids.” So, instead of telling you more about the HOW, I will tell you about the WHY…

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Back in Latvia, when Ed was 26 years old, he found true love. That true love was the beautiful, 16 year old, Agnes Scuffs. Ed and Agnus were to marry and spend the rest of their lives together. Well, at least that’s how Ed saw it. Regrettably, Agnus must not have been as fully on board. One day before their wedding, Agnus dumped Ed. Needless to say, Ed did not take the break up very well. To deal with his broken heart, Ed decided to leave Latvia entirely. As you know now, he immigrated to the United States. It was there that Ed began his lifelong quest to build a monument to his lost love. With about 38 years in the construction, that lifelong monument to his lost love is Coral Castle.

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The Coral Castle was not just a backyard project for Ed. Rather, Coral Castle was Ed’s home. The above, right picture is Ed’s spartan living quarters. He used to bike the 3-4 miles into town whenever he needed supplies. All in all, Ed built, moved, built again, and lived in Coral Castle from 1923-1951.

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I could not find much information on Agnus. But, based on Ed’s 38 year tribute, she must have been quite a woman. I kind of feel the same way about my wife too. In memory of Agnus, Ed even included a kissing chair in his castle. Anyway, that’s my story about Coral Castle – a labor of love. Once again, thanks for my chance at sharing my travels as a guest author. And, have a Happy Belated Valentines Day. Goosebuster

I hope you have enjoyed reading “Coral Castle – A labor of love” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

If you liked that post, you may also enjoy reading https://travelingwithpt.com/the-temple-of-tolerance/

If you happen to be south of Miami, and want to find Ed’s place https://coralcastle.com/