Cano’s Castle

I went down to the San Luis Valley to photograph some of the small village chapels that dot that flat, dusty landscape.  So as I was driving around, I was keeping a keen eye out for any structures, like a steeple, that might pop up out of the surrounding buildings or clusters of wind-ravaged trees. As I approached Antonito, one of the larger towns on the west side of the Valley, a shining, luminous vision sparkled in the morning sunlight above the two-story town.  Upon closer inspection I found what I later learned was Cano's Castle.

Built over decades by Donald "Cano" Espinoza, Native American Vietnam war vet,  it is his temple of thanks for surviving the war.  The photos really do it no justice.  It is made up of thousands of objects, mostly metal, from beer cans to hub caps to ...

Outsider art is fascinating, but outsider architecture - not just building, but really audacious architecture, is heavenly.