A Man's Castle is his Home!

Yeah, I know...it's supposed to be the other way around... but not for Seraphin Villaran. Hey...great to see you today. Thanks for clicking by. Help yourself to a fresh mugga and a virtual treat while I tell you about Serafin, okay?

Located in Cebolleros, a small community in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, Castillo de las Cuevas, or Castle of Caves, is the result of one man’s ambition and determination. Serafin Villarán dreamed of having his very own castle, and he single-handedly turn his dream into a reality.

Born in 1935, in the town of Burgos, Serafin was a simple man, working as a welder in a local factory. He didn’t have much experience in construction, until that day in 1977 when he got the idea to build himself a fairy-tale castle. He was 42 years old, yet he decided to follow his dream of create a castle-shaped home for him and his family.

He bought a piece of land, and without any real architectural knowledge began working on his masterpiece. He mainly used rounded stones which he collected from the nearby rivers Nela and Trueba, and fixed them together with concrete to give his Castillo de las Cuevas an authentic look. Construction began without a preconceived plan, and according to his family he relied only on his imagination and books on Spanish castles as inspiration.

He's got to be the envy of a lot of people out there. Not many of us get to live the saying "A Man's Home is his Castle". Good on you, Serafin. When you want something, make it happen!

See ya, eh!

Bob