In 1968, Michael Rubel began building something that was never meant to be an ordinary home. On his family’s 2.5-acre citrus farm in Glendora, California, Rubel had already started constructing a private retreat from discarded bottles he collected from parties held by his mother. But the project kept growing until it became Rubel Castle, an extraordinary structure assembled from materials most people would have thrown away. Over the next 18 years, Rubel transformed salvaged concrete, stones, broken bottles and motorcycle parts into a sprawling hand-built complex. Its most recognisable feature eventually rose 74 feet into the California sky, a towering clock tower that gave the homemade castle an unmistakable silhouette. The project also attracted hundreds of volunteers, who helped Rubel cement and construct the unusual structures.
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