Shea’s Castle, originally dubbed "The Painted Rocks, Shea's Lodge",[1] is known today as Sky Castle or Castle Ranch. It is a private castle built in 1924 by the developer Richard Peter Shea.[2] Shea, a New Yorker, moved to the dry climate of Southern California in hopes of improving the health of his wife, Ellen.[3] Shea made his fortune developing Hancock Park in Los Angeles.[4] He spent two years building the 8 bedroom, 7.5-bath castle, constructed of solid granite, on about 1,500 acres (6 km²) of land located in the Antelope Valley, just west of Lancaster and just south of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Shea%27s_Castle.jpg/220px-Shea%27s_Castle.jpg)
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 bankrupted Shea. The bank took over the castle, Shea's wife died and Shea committed suicide.
A variety of owners and renters have occupied the castle since. Thomas Stewart Lee, heir of the California-based Don Lee Network, once lived in the home.[5] Roy Rogers' horse Trigger was trained on the property. A non-profit aviation group added a runway,[6] dam and lake.
The castle has seen its share of development plans as well, but to this day remains pretty much the same.[7] There are pictographs on the property, as well as natural springs. It has been a location for 1967's Blood of Dracula's Castle, 2008's Alive or Dead, 2022's Babylon, and TV shows such as Airwolf, Bat Masterson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 5 Episode 1), Harry O, The Rat Patrol, and Starsky & Hutch.
It is currently a private residence.[6]
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)