Kitchen's Castle (Santa Cruz, California)
| stonemasonry
USA /
California /
Santa Cruz /
Santa Cruz, California /
Fair Avenue, 519
World
/ USA
/ California
/ Santa Cruz
World / United States / California
house, stonemasonry
Sometime during World War II, Kenneth Kitchen began building this "temple complex" on Fair Avenue. According to local lore, the two brothers, Kenneth and Raymond had been in Turkey during World War I, and Kenneth's inspiration for the building comes from Orthodox Christian structures.
By one account, there were originally radio towers on the property and Kenneth believed that he could, through those towers, hear German submarine tranmissions out in the bay. He would soak his mattress with a garden hose, and then lie on it, with his headphones on, listening for those submarines, while Raymond would sometimes bring him his dinner.
The only religious significance to the structure was that Kenneth hoped to declare it a church and thus avoid paying taxes. (Later a Greek Orthodox priest, who said that he felt a strong bond to the building, supposedly purchased the property.) Meanwhile, up the street at 1211 Fair Avenue, brother Raymond built his vision out of stone. Inspired by a postcard he received from India, he took Indian architectural themes and integrated them into the building.
Like his brother, Raymond was not at all religious. He just liked unusual architecture.
Note the abalone shell inlay in the brickwork.
Raymond was particularly skillful at building stone fireplaces, sometimes being commissioned by Hollywood-types to go down to Southern California and build a fireplace or two. Like his brother, Raymond did much of his work at night, which some neighbors believed was caused by some mystical or religious inclinations. Others said that the two brothers were just trying to avoid the prying eyes of building inspectors.
Both Raymond and Kenneth moved away from Santa Cruz in the 1950s, some say to the mid-West, but they left behind a legacy to that on-going struggle between individual creativity and building inspectors everywhere. T
Throughout Santa Cruz you can still get a glimpse here and there of the stone and brickwork left by the two brothers.
By one account, there were originally radio towers on the property and Kenneth believed that he could, through those towers, hear German submarine tranmissions out in the bay. He would soak his mattress with a garden hose, and then lie on it, with his headphones on, listening for those submarines, while Raymond would sometimes bring him his dinner.
The only religious significance to the structure was that Kenneth hoped to declare it a church and thus avoid paying taxes. (Later a Greek Orthodox priest, who said that he felt a strong bond to the building, supposedly purchased the property.) Meanwhile, up the street at 1211 Fair Avenue, brother Raymond built his vision out of stone. Inspired by a postcard he received from India, he took Indian architectural themes and integrated them into the building.
Like his brother, Raymond was not at all religious. He just liked unusual architecture.
Note the abalone shell inlay in the brickwork.
Raymond was particularly skillful at building stone fireplaces, sometimes being commissioned by Hollywood-types to go down to Southern California and build a fireplace or two. Like his brother, Raymond did much of his work at night, which some neighbors believed was caused by some mystical or religious inclinations. Others said that the two brothers were just trying to avoid the prying eyes of building inspectors.
Both Raymond and Kenneth moved away from Santa Cruz in the 1950s, some say to the mid-West, but they left behind a legacy to that on-going struggle between individual creativity and building inspectors everywhere. T
Throughout Santa Cruz you can still get a glimpse here and there of the stone and brickwork left by the two brothers.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 36°57'17"N 122°2'43"W
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