“Construction began on Scotty’s Castle in 1922, and cost between
$1.5 and $2.5 million. A man named Walter Scott born in Cynthiana,
Kentucky, also known as “Death Valley Scotty”, convinced Chicago
millionaire Albert Johnson to invest in his gold mine in the
Death Valley area. Walter Scott, convinced everyone that he had
built the castle with money from his rich secret mines in the area
and even had workers make noise when guests were over so they could
pretend to be mining Scotty’s fictional mine under the house.
Albert Mussey Johnson actually built the house as a vacation getaway
for himself and his wife Bessie and Scotty was simply a friend.”