Amy Strong and Her Fortress in San Diego

Rupunzel let her down from one. Sleeping Beauty slept in one. Burgers were named after them. In Los Angeles, magic is performed in one. Walt Disney built one for Cinderella. No matter where they are castles carry a mystique.

Have you or someone you know ever golfed at Mt. Woodson? For those of you who have not heard about Mt. Woodson, it is located off of Highway 67 on the way to Ramona. Don't feel bad if you never knew the castle existed, you weren't supposed to know. The 27-room

castle was surrounded by iron gates and what was basically a horticultural moat. Now you know why you might have passed by a castle on the way to Ramona and never knew of its existence.

Did you know that on the property of Mt. Woodson, a stone castle built by a San Diego seamstress, still stands? Officially called Mount Woodson Castle, most locals refer to the national historic landmark as the "Amy Strong Castle." Who was Amy Strong? She was a very successful seamstress who came to San Diego in 1881 for health reasons.

The beautiful, 27-room castle was made possible by Ms. Strong's 27 years of hard work sewing dresses for the San Diego elite. Who were the elite? None other than the Grants, the Marstons, the Scripps, and the Speckles. She journeyed to Europe on many occasions in order to get the finest cloth for her loyal customers. In fact, Ms. Strong's clothing designs were so sought after that at one point she employed 75 work-at-home seamstresses!

What we admire most about Amy Strong was that she was living a sustainable lifestyle before the term was even coined. Ms. Strong wanted to incorporate the latest Craftsman, "back to nature" design complete with a windmill to pump her own water. It was a Dutch-style windmill that contained a cold storage room with a water tank above. She had the castle's main fireplace on the first

floor placed directly below the second story bedrooms so that the heat would rise and help warm the upstairs rooms. She also used a lot of glass, including tall windows and stained glass, to let in the natural light as much as possible.

Amy had a spell on people. In fact, she had a seance room. In those days, seances were a popular form of entertainment. The seance room has a circular ceiling complete with astrological symbols. It was actually hand painted by Strong and her niece, Margaret Meyers. If you happen to go, you might just get visited by someone who used to visit the old stone castle during these seances.

We have a full article about Amy Strong and the other 9 castles in San Diego, read more...