NEW ORLEANS — Have you ever dreamed about owning a castle?
Well, you can, there’s one for sale on the far eastern edge of New Orleans.
If you’ve driven I-10 east toward Slidell, you’ve seen the building.
Fisherman’s Castle is a beacon on the banks of Irish Bayou, luring sightseers off the interstate for decades.
“People come up and down the street and will stop a lot on the side of the road and look at it," said Irish Bayou camp owner James Boyd.
“They’re always pulling over, taking pictures, most of the people are from out of town, you know because you see a castle, kind of weird,” Irish Bayou resident Mickey Margot said.
This reproduction of a 14th Century castle was built in 1981.
Margot has a houseboat and home not far from the attraction.
“You see if I owned something like that, I might charge you to go in there and look at it or whatever,” he said.
Boyd is building a weekend getaway just down Highway 11 from the Castle.
“You can come out here and it’s like you’re in a whole other world because it’s just mother nature all around you,” Boyd said.
The castle is a two bedroom, one and a half bath, 1,100 square foot structure.
Right now, it’s a bit of a fixer upper but the building is under renovation.
The asking price, $500,000.
"That’s pushing it, that’s pushing it a little bit,” Margot said. “I think they’ll get it.”
“I talked to my wife about it, and we actually came out here and looked at it and called the number and everything,” Boyd said. “We found out it was a half-a-million dollars, we were kind of, okay.”
The listing agent admits that the castle’s current owner is a bit tight lipped about the potential sale. But neighbors said they are happy this oddity on Irish Bayou is back on the market.
“The best thing for a place, for a dwelling is for people to be in it because then, you know, it doesn’t deteriorate as much,” Boyd said.
The purchase price also buys you a fishing camp across the street and a vacant lot on the water.
The castle has changed hands several times over the years.
It was originally built by Simon Villemarette as a tourist attraction for visitors to the 1984 world's fair.
It did survive Hurricane Katrina.
The storm in 2005 filled it with about 12 feet of water.
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