BRADY CASTLE -

SUNROCK CASTLE

I received E-Mail that said:

This may be a bit small for a castle, but it seems to fit your other criteria. There was an article in our local newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, 8/5/99.

You have an entry under Arizona, "Unknown Castle". I can shed a little light on it, but not much. I know it is privately owned and not open to the public. It sits on top of a large hill, all of which is also privately owned, so it is not easy to get close to it. A good place to see it, especially with binoculars, is the parking lot at Colossal Cave, 2-3 miles to the north. You can also see it from I-10, but it's more like 5-6 miles from there.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

In 1973-74 I was married to an electrician who worked on this castle. One Halloween when it was just a shell we drove out to the jobsite and ran through the rooms kinda fun & spooky. What I remember the owner used to entertain Hollywood people like Robert Goulet & Eddy? He had a moat around it with a draw bridge. Last time I drove out to it 5 years ago the moat is dry & it looked run down. Maybe other Tucsonans can shed more light on it.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

I was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in the early 1980's. The castle you identify as "Brady Castle" was an enigma. It was rumored that the original owner was a wealthy man engaged to a frail, young woman. The woman's doctor suggested that a move to Arizona might be good for her failing health. The owner purchased the castle in Europe and had it disassembled, shipped to Arizona, and reconstructed in the early 1900s. Tragically, as the story went, his bride-to-be passed away before the castle was completed. The owner never occupied the castle. He gave the castle and surrounding grounds to the caretaker with a promise that the castle would never be occupied or opened for tourism. I'm not certain of the rumor's accuracy, but it certainly was a romantic and tragic tale. Hopefully, someone will shed some light on this castle's history. The property must be listed in public records.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

I was a student at the Univ. of Arizona (Tucson) from 1972 - 1976. During that time, I had the pleasure of attending a number of medieval-style events held at Brady Castle by the then-owner, William (Bill) Brady. The castle, at that time, was not new, but it was not very old.

I remember seeing Brady Castle, both exterior and interior shots in an episode of the TV series that was filmed in Tucson (something about a lawyer in a Western town).

Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism from the 1972 - 1976 timeframe, Barony of Tir Ysgithr (Tucson) group, could be of assistance in their recollections of events and activities at the castle. .

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

When I was a kid, I'm 39 now, my family owned ten acres down the road from "Brady Castle". At the time, we lived out in the middle of nowhere; just undeveloped desert land for miles around. There was an old dirt road bordering our property that ran right to the land the castle was built on. The local teens used to go park on the land and party, leaving fire rings and trash. We lived there several years before the castle was built. When I was about ten or 12 they began construction on it. We used to ride our horses around the construction site as it was being built. The local teens were quite upset to loose their party lot.

The tales of personal tragedy and of it being old and brought form another country are just a myth. It's a very small castle. The original owner was German and just liked castles. It used to have a long German title across the front gate. He built it for himself and his family. They would have parties in the evenings at the castle, going into the early morning. As a teenager we would open our windows at night and listen to the music. We also used go the castle and just look at it and show it off to our friends. Occasionally an older man, the owner, would wave at us. He had this little terrier who would come out and say hi.

They cleared the desert surrounding the castle and planted wildflowers ... acres of them. The wildflowers were beautiful. At one point my Mom and a cousin stopped to chat with the owner. The owner said he was from Germany. They discussed the German name of the castle. He said it was built for his family. They were building a house anyway and he simply liked castles, so why not? The last I heard it was for sale and being called Brady Castle. Sadly, the surrounding desert was bought by land developers and now there are thousands of homes all crammed together. All you can see for miles is housing subdivisions.

Later, I received E-Mail that said:

I currently possess the castle you have called Brady Castle. Bill Brady obviously has not lived there for several years, so we now call the castle Sunrock Castle. Unfortunately, the castle has been abused in the years since Bill Brady. There have been a few business attempts at Sunrock Castle but none have been successful. The property was originally 25 acres and has since been bought down to only 5. The area surrounding the castle has grown immensely and like most developing areas in Tucson it now huddles between several private homes.

I have lived there for nearly a year and a half. It was empty for three years prior to my occupation and became a popular party destination for local youth. During that time the property was vandalized terribly. I am currently renovating the property in hopes that I can someday serve the local community with it. There is a lot of potential for the property.

On 8-15-07, I received E-Mail that said:

My Father & Mother owned this castle about 5 years ago. He spent 2-3 years completely renovating it. He tried to turn it into a bed & breakfast but the County shut him down before he even got the doors open for business. He had a HUGE 10 foot knight outside the round tower that I now own and is proudly displayed in my yard. He also had 4 other smaller knights that ranged in height from 5-7 feet tall, I now own them as well.

He called it West Side Castle because there is another Castle in East Tucson. I have a huge box of pictures showing everything from start to finish on the work that was done in the 2-3 years he owned it. The most impressive picture I own is one of an areal view. It shows it in it's entirety as there are three total buildings. My Father did sell the other 20 acres of land to help finance his remodel. He purchased the Castle from the children of a lady who owned it and died. Her children didn't want the responsibility of taking care of it so they sold it. The lady used the lobby of the round tower as a church. There is an impressive bedroom at the top of the tower that you get to from a spiral staircase. The bedroom is round which makes for some REALLY COOL furniture as it has to be curved to fit the walls, even the bed is round. The bathroom in that room is also round with cabinets and mirrors curved to fit the walls as well.

On 4-6-10, I received e-mail that said:

I'm sorry to inform you this castle is being demolished due to abandonment and vagrancy. This place was neat and sad to see it go. I saw it once when I was little in the eighties back when someone was still living there. Over the years it has changed hands mostly from bank to bank in an attempt to sell it. Thats when all the vandalism occurred. My cousin came close to purchasing it but the asking price and renovation expense wasn't worth it.

In early 2000 I spoke with the coldwell banker associate who gave me what little background he had. He said it was built in germany in the late 18th century and purchased in the 70's, dismantled and brought brick by brick to Tucson. I dont think its true because I had a look at some of the brick material during the demolition and saw a stamp from Mexico. The main part was indeed used as a Church by the lady that lived there and every mass was recorded. The religion is unknown but the stained glass on the window portrays Christ on fire.

On 4-6-10, I received e-mail that said:

Sorry to inform you this castle is being demolished due to abandonment and vagrancy. This place was neat and sad to see it go. I saw it once when I was little in the eighties back when someone was still living there. Over the years it has changed hands mostly from bank to bank in an attempt to sell it. Thats when all the vandalism occurred. My cousin came close to purchasing it but the asking price and renovation expense wasn't worth it.

In early 2000 I spoke with the coldwell banker associate who gave me what little background he had. He said it was built in germany in the late 18th century and purchased in the 70's, dismantled and brought brick by brick to Tucson. I dont think its true because I had a look at some of the brick material during the demolition and saw a stamp from Mexico. The main part was indeed used as a Church by the lady that lived there and every mass was recorded. The religion is unknown but the stained glass on the window portrays christ on fire.

On 6-4-11, I received these links:

http://www.kvoa.com/news/brady-castle-coming-down/

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_d9fcbda2-95f4-50c6-8cb1-2da69803b363.html

Back to "Castles of the United States"

A special thanks to William Carpenter for sending the photo.