# How much would it cost to build a castle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839 "2002-07-19T17:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/1 "2002-07-19T17:22:06Z")
Well, a tower anyway… Suppose I wanted to build a tower: 1. 30 feet in diameter 2. 50 feet tall 3. Three storeys with 12-foot ceilings, plus an “observation floor” (i.e. surrouned by windows, not masonry) between the third floor and the roof 4. Steep-pitch slate roof 5. Construction of rebar-reenforced cinder block (since actual blocks of granite would be hideously expensive) There’s more, of course. I was just curious about how much a tower like this would cost. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/2 "2002-07-19T17:37:32Z")
Dunno about the price, but there’s a guy just outside of Nashville who has a keep that he’s built and how he pays for it is by having a Rennfest there once a year. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/3 "2002-07-19T18:29:19Z")
How big is the keep? (I’ve **got** to stop watching The History Channel’s _Secret Passages_…) ---
**Author:** ![odd-socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@odd-socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/odd-socks)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/4 "2002-07-19T18:35:01Z")
Not sure. You’d have to take into consideration the cost of the land too, unless you already had that. Plus, cost of labour and any plans that needed to be drawn up, presuming you couldn’t do that yourself. Nice idea though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Emilio\_Lizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Emilio\_Lizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emilio_Lizardo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/5 "2002-07-19T18:54:13Z")
Here are some [castles for sale](http://www.castles-for-sale.com/sale/) for comparison. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/6 "2002-07-19T19:13:29Z")
A good starting point may be a contractor who builds silos, if there are any farmers left who use anything but metal silos. My undergrad school had a castle, but it was built in the 19th century: [http://www.alfred.edu/map/steinheim.html](http://www.alfred.edu/map/steinheim.html) ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/7 "2002-07-19T19:17:59Z")
Sounds more like you want to build a lighthouse… check for prices on those to get an idea of what a castle tower would be. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/8 "2002-07-19T20:35:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Sounds more like you want to build a lighthouse. The thought did cross my mind, but the ideas I have for a tower make it “expandable”. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/9 "2002-07-19T22:12:43Z")
> [@](#): > > 1 a : a large fortified building or set of buildings b : a massive or imposing house > 2 a : retreat safe against intrusion or invasion Which of these definitions is this tower going to satisfiy? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/10 "2002-07-19T22:41:14Z")
b : a massive or imposing house ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/11 "2002-07-19T23:31:44Z")
Good because otherwise you’d probably want to reconsider not using granite. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/12 "2002-07-20T06:03:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*How big is the keep? > > (I’ve **got** to stop watching The History Channel’s _Secret Passages_…) \*\* Dunno the square footage, but its a pretty good sized place. [Here’s](http://minuet.8m.net/ren/ren.html) a link to the guy’s site. If its not on there (I don’t have time to poke around on it looking for the info), it does have contact info, so you could ask him directly. (I’ve met him before, he’s a nice guy, and he’ll talk your ear off about the place if you let him.) ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/13 "2002-07-20T07:01:11Z")
There is a fellow out here in Sac that has built a decent size fortress from wood scraps. We have an SCA war out there once a year or so. Granted, his keep is nowhere near the size of the thing you want to make, but keep us updated. I would love something like that. Hell, make it big enough and I’d live in the darn thing. That would rule. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/14 "2002-07-20T07:08:56Z")
Gleaned from Emilio’s post- This should answer some of your questions, maybe. Hopefully. If you do this, you have to let me come see it. [http://www.castlemagic.com/faqs.html](http://www.castlemagic.com/faqs.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-it-cost-to-build-a-castle/119839/15 "2002-07-21T01:18:26Z")
Thanks for the link, **Tristan**. There probably won’t be much to keep you posted on. I’m still in California. While I do have some money in the bank, I still need to relocate to NW Washington and get a job. (Not necessarily in that order.) Housing up there varies. A friend bought a 3-BR house in Birch Bay for $60,000. 2-BR houses in Bellingham seem to be around $70,000 or more. I thought that instead of buying a boring house there, I’d go out of town a bit and buy some land. There are some Storybook style houses not too far from me, and I pass by a couple whenever I go to the cinema. It occured to me that maybe I could build a Storybook style house, then I thought it might be fun to build a castle. Just trying to think of nifty housing when I finally do relocate. I’ve bookmarked the link. 🙂