Rubel Castle

A Castle Built From Dreams and Discarded Things

Drive through the residential streets of Glendora and stone towers suddenly appear above the rooftops. Behind high walls at 844 N Live Oak Avenue sits Rubel Castle—not a medieval recreation but a genuine folk art environment where one man’s childhood obsession became a 20-year building project.

Michael Rubel bought these 1.7 acres in 1959 when he was just 18, drawn to the property’s old citrus packing house and massive 145,000-gallon concrete reservoir. While his mother Dorothy, a former Broadway dancer, hosted legendary parties in the converted packing house (guests included Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Hope, and Dwight Eisenhower), Michael needed an escape from the noise. He built a small house in the center of the emptied reservoir using cement and champagne bottles tossed aside by party guests. That bottle house still stands today, surrounded by the castle that grew around it.

Rubel never drew architectural plans. He and his “pharmhands”—the term he used for his hundreds of volunteer helpers—built where inspiration struck, using whatever materials came their way. Local businesses donated concrete. A headstone maker contributed misspelled markers that got embedded in walls. Neighbors brought salvaged materials as old ranches made way for tract houses. River rock from nearby canyons formed the bulk of the walls, but look closely and you’ll spot motorcycle parts, bedsprings, coat hangers, distributors, cameras, a toaster—objects protruding from mortar like a three-dimensional time capsule of mid-century Glendora.

Walking Through the Castle Grounds

Tours meet at the massive medieval gate, where a portcullis and old cannons (once used to shoot oranges from the surrounding groves) guard the entrance. Push through and you enter a walled compound that feels more like a small village than a single structure. To the right sits a rock barn housing vintage vehicles—some running, some not. The 1929 Studebaker Commander that Rubel’s grandfather gifted him in 1956 still starts. The bulletproof 1957 Mercedes 300C staff car has stories docents love to share.

The 74-foot clock tower dominates the skyline. Rubel and his crew welded four 10,000-gallon water tanks together vertically, then clad them in river rock and granite. At the top, a restored 1911 Seth Thomas clock—hand-wound daily by caretakers—marks every hour and half hour with chimes that echo through the neighborhood. Watch the inner workings of weights, pulleys, and brass bells, all functioning as they did over a century ago.

The Tin Palace citrus packing house displays its original fruit-packing instruction posters on interior walls. Dorothy Rubel furnished this 36-by-108-foot space with elegant antiques and tapestry rugs, transforming utilitarian agricultural space into a showplace. Today it serves as a repository for the castle’s vast collection of memorabilia.

Hidden tunnels connect different sections. A dragon sculpture guards one passage. Apartments throughout the complex house residents—you can’t tour occupied spaces, but guides point out the King’s Quarters where Michael eventually lived, complete with a rickety elevator that once trapped President Eisenhower. A working blacksmith shop sees weekend use by a local club. The 1940s Santa Fe caboose near the back has been retrofitted with kitchen and living space, though no one currently occupies it.

What to Expect on a Tour

Tours run 90 minutes to two hours depending on group questions and pace. Docents—many of whom knew Michael personally—share construction stories and anecdotes about famous visitors. You’ll walk across gravel, bare ground, and uneven surfaces. Stairs lead to different levels. Tunnels require ducking. The terrain isn’t accessible for wheelchairs or walkers, and there are no handrails or benches along routes.

The experience works best for those who appreciate folk art, DIY ingenuity, and the kind of obsessive creativity that turns a teenage fort-building hobby into a decades-long architectural statement. Some visitors find the rough-around-the-edges aesthetic charming. Others might expect more polish. The castle doesn’t apologize for its eccentric construction—embedded gloves filled with sand, headstones in walls, a faux cemetery with no bodies—because that’s precisely what makes it remarkable.

The Legacy

Michael Rubel died in 2007, having donated the property to the Glendora Historical Society two years earlier. In 2013, Rubel Castle earned National Register of Historic Places designation, recognized as a significant example of folk art environments in California and a rare physical reminder of the region’s citrus industry past.

Tours reveal how one person’s unwavering vision—combined with a community willing to help—can create something genuinely original. Rubel never grew up, as he liked to say. He just kept building forts with increasingly sophisticated materials. The result stands as proof that persistence, creativity, and a lot of river rock can turn childhood dreams into something real enough to outlast its dreamer.