GLENDORA, Calif. — Mansions and villas are pretty common in Los Angeles County, but towering above the suburban homes in Glendora is a castle. It's not just any castle, though. This one is made out of old car parts, random rocks and bits of garbage.
The cobblestone and scrap heap fortress is known as Rubel Castle, the dream home of the late Michael Rubel.
“He was a builder since he was a little kid. His father died when he was six and he just started building fortresses and digging tunnels,” said Scott Rubel, historian and nephew of Michael Rubel.
From age 10, Michael started building large play forts and structures. As he got older, he got a job at a citrus orchard packing house and old tin building that he spent a lot of time in.
"So, Michael wanted to live in the packing house and 10 years later his dream came true,” said Scott.
When Michael turned 19, his mother Dorothy Deuel Rubel bought the packing house and the land around it. Scott says it was partly to keep Michael out of trouble and partly for entertainment value.
"His mother was really into partying,” said Scott Rubel.
Michael's mom was an actor and well-known in the entertainment biz. She constantly hosted movie stars and entertainers in the packing house, which became known as the Tin Palace.
“Jack Benny was one of them, Alfred Hitchcock, President Eisenhower was here,” said Scott, who likes to tell a funny story about Eisenhower trying to use the packing house elevator. “Michael pushed the down button and down [Eisenhower] went, and then the fuse blew. And Eisenhower got stuck with his head sticking out of the floor and the security guards got really nervous.”
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Over the years, Michael tried his luck in many failed entrepreneurial ventures, including growing eggplants and raising frogs in the old concrete irrigation reservoir on the property.
“Michael pulled the plug here [on the reservoir] and big spout of water came about a mile down the road and frogs were falling out of the sky,” said Scott.
After Michael pulled the plug on the reservoir and it fully emptied, he decided to start on his lifelong dream of building a castle and clock tower. A structure that was built at the bottom of the empty concrete reservoir.
“We built for years before the neighbors could see what we were doing,” said Scott.
Working from the bottom of the empty 12-foot reservoir, Michael enlisted the help of artists and his nephew Scott to erect a metal frame which would become the clock tower.
“We put electric winches up in the palm trees and lifted the whole thing up, so it just appeared suddenly and the neighbors had no idea what was going on in here,” said Scott.
Michael had little money, but he had a knack for getting free materials and inspiring young artists to work for him in return for a space of their own.
"There's a lot of art always going on in here so people had their own motivations for building their own little spaces,” said Scott.
Rock-by-rock and junkpile-by-junkpile, Michael and friends eventually finished the clock tower and the castle in 1986, all without a single building permit from the city.
“We had our contentious moments but it all worked out in the end,” said Scott.
Despite some pushback from the city, the mayor eventually issued Michael Rubel a proclamation of good community standing, ending years of conflict and endorsing the castle as a local monument.
“They fought us because they sorta had to, but on an individual level they loved us,” said Scott.
Michael Rubel died in 2007 but his legacy lives on through the eyes of tourists that get to explore the castle and its many quirks.
“Of course, you can see all the hard work here but what you can't see is all the parties and that's what really built the place, the hundreds of friends,” said Scott.
Tours of Rubel Castle should be purchased in advance on the Glendora Historical Society website.
ANOTHER CASTLE FROM THE BACKROADS: How a castle ended up in Death Valley; The odd story of a con man, his fake gold mine, and an unlikely friend.
