Man builds castle stone by stone

In a southeast section of Colorado, tourists are coming upon a looming landmark these days. It's not a mountain, it's a castle. It is a modern day, medieval castle built stone by stone by one man with a vision and tenacity.

Jim Bishop said, "I'm Jim Bishop. I'm the castle builder."

A high school dropout, Bishop bought two acres of land near Rye, Colorado for next to nothing when he was 15. It started out as a family cabin.

Bishop said, "Ten years of ground work, then in June of '69, I started building the stone cottage and people called it a castle and here it is."

And with each stone, he found his life's calling, "41 years this year, by hand, by myself."

There are no cranes or pulleys, just Bishop, a welder, and his vision.

Bishop said, "I'm 65, but I'm in pretty decent shape."

In 1992, the first phase of his castle was newly erected, complete with smoke breathing dragon, made out of recycled hospital trays, fueled by a cast iron stove.

Tourists now enter his fairy tale in awe.

Tourist Sandy Hampton said, "I just think it's incredible. I wish I had this kind of imagination."

Tourist Mitch Kilgore said, "I'm in the landscaping and tree maintenance business, and I've got a fairly good feel for what it takes to do some of this work, and I'm amazed by it."

Wrought iron bridges, stained glass windows, towers that will reach 250 feet when they're done; they're connected by walkways and Bishop's past. One is named after his late father, the other, after his four-year old son who died after falling from a tree more than 20 years ago. Even that didn't stop him.

Bishop said, "Nope. I just work and cry, work and pray. I work on through it. You can't hide from nothing."

Bishop has no plans to stop either. He says that's out of his hands, "And I decided when I open the paper one morning and read my own name in the obituary, I'm not even getting out of bed that day. Then it's time to quit I guess."