Quigley Castle - The Oddest Home in the Ozarks

If our homes are our castles, then Quigley's Castle in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas must rank at the top of the list. Although known far and wide as a castle, the structure is not actually a castle in the traditional sense of the word. There are no towers, no battlements, and certainly no drawbridge. What it is, however, is one of the Ozark region's most unusual dwellings.

As intriguing as the castle - or house - itself is, the story behind it is just as interesting. It begins with a woman, Mrs. Elise Quigley who lived in a a very small three room house with her husband, Albert, and their five children.

It had long been Mrs. Quigley's dream to have a home that fit their large family and she had sketched drawings of what she wanted in a family home. Her two main requirements were simple - lots of space and a home that let her feel as if she lived in the world, not in a box.

Although she made drawings and tried to explain the home that she envisioned, no one else could see her unique vision. Elise Quigley even made a model of her dream home with matchsticks and cardboard.

As the years came and went without building the house, Elise took action. On a summer morning in 1943, she waited until her husband left for work and roused her children.

"We are going to tear down the house today." She told them and by the time her husband came home that evening, the three room house was history. The Quigley's took up temporary residence in the chicken house and work began, out of necessity now, on the new house of Elise's dreams.

Her dream to live in the world meant bringing the outside into the home. So her design called for twenty-eight large windows as well as unique indoor gardens. The gardens were not a problem - she had a plan in mind but during World War II, twenty eight glass windows were. Building materials, like much else, was rationed during that war.

Money was the next obstacle but the resourceful Mrs. Quigley had her own work force and lumber from their land so work began. By the time the war ended and the house was almost finished, the Quigley's spent just $2,000 cash money on the new home. Window glass did not become available until three years after World War II so they made do using blankets to keep out the winter cold until they could buy the windows.

Although parts of Arkansas often experience mild winters, the years that the Quigleys spent with layers of blankets over the window spaces turned out to be some of the coldest in memory but they survived.

To bring her beloved gardens inside, Elise Quigley left four feet of soil bare around the perimeter of the interior walls. There she planted and nurtured flowering and tropical plants that grew up into the second floor levels. The plants that still grow in the house today are those that she planted so many decades ago, more than fifty years in the past.

To finish the house, the next step was to complete the exterior but even for that, Mrs. Quigley had a plan. Since her own childhood, she had collected rocks and fossils from the Ozark hills. By the time that the house was built, she had a sizeable collection. Those native rocks and interesting fossils became the home's exterior layer.

Elise spent three years covering the four two-story high walls with her rocks and fossils. Some are just rocks, others are well-preserved fossils, some are arrowheads, a few are crystals, and some are even petrified wood. The end result is an amazing archaeological display and a unique exterior like no other in the Ozarks or the nation.

Today, some of Mrs. Quigley's grandchildren still live in the home that was her pride and joy. Inside, the home is furnished with antiques and family heirlooms. In one of the upstairs bedrooms, the Butterfly Wall is filled with preserved colorful butterflies of every description.

Outside, more rock formations decorate the abundant gardens and create bird baths, benches, and more. Other features of the gardens feature winding paths, a lily pond, and bottle trees. These unique works of art are composed of old bottles, the kind of thing that most folks would have just thrown away but that Elise made into art.

Although Mrs. Quigley passed away in 1984, her spirit lives on in the unique and unusual home that she created.

Tours are given daily from April through October and most of the tour is self-guided through the home. A few rooms are off limits - not surprising since it is still a private home and the cost is minimal. Children under age 14 are free, adults just $5. Quigley's Castle is closed on Sundays and Thursdays. Hours are from 8:30 am until 5pm. They are also open on occasion during March and November.

Quigley's Castle is located four miles south of Eureka Springs, Arkansas just off Highway 23. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been featured on HGTV.