The Story Of Little White Castle

The Little White Castle was build in the year 1932 & instantly became known as the White Castle. The picture above was taken 1946 and it portraits how the surrounding area used to look like. The Little White Castle was considered one of the most beautiful houses in town during this period.

Noticing the potentials, we bought the Little White Castle from an elderly woman by the name of Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir, who was well known in our town for her kindness and helpfulness. The Castle had stood empty for many months since Ragnheiður had to relocate to an elderly home at the age of 91. She unfortunately died only 3 months after we bought the Little White Castle but we believe she is still with us, guarding the castle.

In the first two years we renovated the inside of the castle and made plans & drawings on how we wanted to rebuild the little castle to regain its former beauty. Walls were resurfaced & new Merlons formed and placed on top of the walls. The basement was dug out, isolated & divided into more rooms. Electricity & waterpipes renewed, roof isolated & covered with new material.

In our effort to create a peaceful haven in our garden from the north wind, we build a wall with an arch door for entering. At the same time we hired a contractor with excavator & trucks to clear the ground for the new building & the in-ground patio behind the Little White Castle.

In order for us to expand our Castle as much as possible & use the whole width of our lawn, we got this crazy idea to build one of the walls lying down on the foundation floor. When the concrete had fully hardened, we got the biggest crane available to lift it into place right next to our neighbors wall . Crazy ideas work sometimes .

To be honest, the garden was not very appealing in the beginning, so we decided to completely redesign it. We hate to throw things away, so we gave the old trees to some of our neighbors & bought new ones. After gathering all kinds of materials found in nature, rocks, driftwood, whalebone, rusted metal & other interesting materials, we started creating.

Every morning before work during spring & summer, we would start our day planting, creating & nourishing every corner of our garden. It was not long until it all was rewarded back to us. The Secret Garden blossomed & it's been a privilige to witness the transformation through the years.

You might think that we've finished the project. Actually, with a project like this, you never finish. We are still adding more items & details to our creation. One of the best thing about every little item in our garden is, that there is always a story behind it worth telling.