The Sheldons started this structure in 1946. It was to be a garage, workshop, and laundry room. They had planned to build a Mexican-style house on the west end of the lot. But they grew tired of the small apartment they were renting at Whittier Hall on Magnolia Avenue in Fairhope, so the family moved into the shell, which had no partition walls. The garage became a bedroom and hence has the only wood exterior wall in the house. Its rippled stained-glass panels were removed in the summer to allow the cool breezes in (there were still cool breezes in those days because the lot was more heavily shaded and the gully was less overgrown). The “shop” became the living and dining room, while the “laundry” became the kitchen.

The house was built of Clay City tile. Mr. Sheldon covered the tile with Mobile Bay stone, first using the stone Mrs. Sheldon had hand-carried up the bluff to line her flowerbeds. He embellished the stone with old tools, Civil War shrapnel, cookware, bottles and more.

The rolled roof design resulted from his World War II experiences in the South Pacific. Being in the construction business, he’d bring home whatever shingles were left over from various jobs. The random assortment of colors available produced the resulting patchwork-quilt design.

The tower was built in the 1950s with the help of his young son, Craig, Jr. (then called Mac). Mr. Sheldon had always dreamed of building a round room, and in this tower he constructed three of them. The first two allowed Mac and his sister, Suzan Megrez, to have their own rooms. The top room, on the third floor, was Mr. Sheldon’s office, where he wrote his plays and his newspaper column, “Knee Deep in Fly Creek.” The conical roof was added a little later, but only after many nights of sleeping under the stars. Eventually it became Mac’s room. Years later both daughters threw their wedding bouquets from the window of this room.

During the years when he was in the construction business, Mr. Sheldon built many other structures. Few were as distinctive as this castle, but he did build or help build a similar castle for each of his daughters. The first of these, built for the Sheldons’ older daughter, Suzan Megrez, is in Brierfield, Alabama. Younger daughter Pagan’s castle, built by her husband Dean Mosher with Mr. Sheldon’s help, can be seen across the street.

On the pediment of the porch you will see a welcome symbol; the Chinese character offers “long life” to all who enter.

The front door is made from three pine panels, carved with a pattern reminiscent of leafy vines, which Mr. Sheldon had observed while stationed in the South Pacific islands. You will see this pattern repeated inside. The signatures carved into the surface are those of artists of local, national, and international fame. Potters, painters, actors, dancers, and even the news commentator Paul Harvey are represented.

To the right of the door is “The Admonished Little Girl,” a marble statue of the Sheldons’ younger daughter, Pagan, at about the age of four.