If you are a Glendora resident, you most likely are familiar with Rubel Castle, the eccentric structure nestled in the foothills. What you may not know is that the largely-recycled wonder was placed on the National Register of Historic Places recently.
The castle, located in the southeast corner of Live Oak Avenue and Palm Drive, was granted a historical designation Oct. 7 by the California Historical Resources Commission render an initial decision, GHS officials said.
The honor comes about eight years after Historical Society officials tried to obtain and were denied a historical designation. Not willing to be deterred, officials regrouped and sought advice from Historical Resources Group on how to proceed, GHS officials said.
"We knew the Pharm had all the right ingredients to achieve recognition. We were convinced our Castle qualified under the 'exceptional importance' clause, partly because there are so few sites anything like it with which to compare," GHS officials said.
Historical Resources Group worked with the Historical Society, teachers, scholars, neighbors and Rubel Castle maintenance volunteers to develop a draft and collect letters in support of an historical designation. Around 400 letters in support of the effort were collected, GHS officials said.
The castle, originally the site of a citrus farm, began to take form in 1959 after its creator, Michael Rubel, tried to find a use for the large amount of glass bottles. Many of those would be used to create a tunnel of glass bottles and cement, leading to the "bottle house," the first structure built on the site in 1968, according to December issue of Glendora Report.
Other recycled materials make up the Castle, including glass bottles, rocks, motorcycles and coat hangers and is even home to an old caboose and vintage automobiles.
Michael Rubel passed away in 2005 and the Castle was given to the Glendora Historical Society.
GHS offers tours of the Castle every second Tuesday and third Friday of the month, but will expand their tours in January 2014. For tour information, click the link.
