Howden Castle

Yes, it is a castle!
To celebrate her birthday, my friend, Trang P., found this fantastic castle as a mini vacation or retreat. It was so much fun, and the castle was hilarious. It reminded me of the mini golf castles with a rich, brick red, tan, rustic orange «stone» wall, castle spires, a running brook or river behind the castle and little passage ways that link to various parts of the house. All these little touches make this place very endearing.
GENERAL INFO: Built in 1927, Robert Howden modeled his castle on his memory of native Scottish castles. There are 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, a modern kitchen, a grand room with balconies, a recreation room, a «dungeon» with a little alcohol bar and a laundry room. The website says that the castle sleeps 8, but… it is very spacious and can sleep more people.
TIPS: Before you storm and siege the castle, remember to bring:
— soap (not all the bathrooms have soap to wash your hands)
— food: There’s a full kitchen complete with an oven, fridge, microwave, silverware, dishware, cookware, etc. You should definitely bring food so you can nosh and enjoy your castle experience.
— beverages (aka alcohol): you can play bartender at the wet bar in the downstairs «dungeon/​basement». Get your drink on!
— The TVs are the basic tube TVs, but it does the job. :)
— Explore the castle! I spent a good 15 – 20 minutes running around the house, opening its countless doors and wandering all around the outside balconies and walkways. I would definitely come here again.
LOCATION: The castle is right next to the Quality Inn & Suites in Santa Cruz, which is precisely located at 9733 California 9, Ben Lomond, CA 95 005. It’s hard to find on google maps, but if you look via satellite view, you’ll see the spires of the castle on the satellite map. haha. If you want to be ghetto, you can get your GPS as close as you can to the satellite view of the castle and you’ll totally hit it. :)