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Kentucky Castle

KencastleIt stands on a hill overlooking U.S. 60 between Lexington and Versailles (in Kentucky), a silent sentinel keeping watch over the cattle that graze around its ramparts. Little is known about its past, and its future remains cloaked in mystery as well. The castle “has been the subject of more speculation than any other building in the Bluegrass, and it’s great fuel for a child’s imagination,” said 1997’s The Insider’s Guide to Lexington and the Kentucky Bluegrass.

Its dozen turrets, four corner towers and 12-foot walls still prompt motorists to stop and take snapshots. But a sign warns that trespassers will be prosecuted. Owner Rex B. Martin could not be reached for comment through a Woodford contact. Tax records in Woodford County list his address as Punta Gorda, Fla., but there is no telephone listing for him there.

Rex and Caroline Martin got the idea for the castle on a trip to Europe. Plans called for seven bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and an Italian fountain in the driveway. Ground was broken in 1969. The Martins divorced while the castle was still under construction. It was never finished.

Read about it’s history

It was sold and rebuilt and finished after a fire in 2004 and is now being used as a tourist home and inn.

Castle2

Castle1

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11 thoughts on “Kentucky Castle”

  1. This is confusing. The article and the followup list two different owners and if it is a tourist inn, then what’s up with the “No Trespassing” info?

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  2. (I live in near Lexington) Right now the castle is a private guest house, which means you have to be on the good list of one of the owners of one of the big horse farms in and around lexington. And as I understand it, its already booked solid for the Alltech’s FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky 2010. What you wont find listed on the websites is Rex Martin built it as a gift for his wife, using her money, she got tired of it and left him. It burned in 04 for insurance money, but that did not cover the cost to finish and repair it. So it was sold. Half of kentucky cried the night it caught fire, here are a few shots http://news.webshots.com/album/564180351HjNOUM

    P.S. The no trespassing still stands ;(

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  3. ^ Rex Martin built it as a gift for his wife, using her money, she got tired of it and left him.

    That’s a lot of FAIL in one sentence. They sound like quite the couple…not sure who was screwier.

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  4. I’ve seen this place several times in my life, but I have to tell you….

    I never noticed the double-wide in the back yard. As they say, “Location, location, location.”

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  5. i live in versailles (oh, and we don’t pronounce it like the french do, fyi). i’ve lived here 10 years now and it was a sad day when the castle burned down. however, the new one really looks like crap compared to the old one. the interior is probably much nicer (no pics really of the pre-fire interior) but the outside looks like crap. its all concrete poured to look like stone and utterly fails to pull that look off. sad.

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  6. That’s so WEIRD! I was just there the day you posted this! We were in KY for a family reunion and heard about a castle… I had to see it. Pretty random

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