DEATH VALLEY (KTNV) — For a century, in the Mojave Desert sits something unexpected — an enormous estate built by Chicago millionaires in the 1920s called Scotty's Castle.
It's been a popular tourist attraction for decades, but since late 2015 it's been closed to the public after heavy rains caused significant damage to the mansion.
But this year, walking tours have been launched for the winter months for small groups of people to check out the grounds again, and they've already sold out. However, virtual AR tours are free and readily available to check out.
Watch our 2023 two-part series on the National Park Service's hope to reopen Scotty's Castle 10 years after flood
WATCH (PART 1): Could there be a gold mine? The history behind a castle sitting in Death Valley National Park
WATCH (PART 2): World-famous Death Valley National Park landmark faced $70 million in repairs, hopefully opening in 2025
“People have been coming here for generations. We're really getting excited for what's to come," Nichole Andler, Death Valley National Park's Chief of Interpretation and Education, told Channel 13.
In the 1920s, Chicago millionaires Albert and Bessie Johnson bankrolled the construction of what they called Death Valley Ranch. It was later nicknamed Scotty's Castle after con man Walter Scott, who had convinced the pair to invest in a fraudulent gold mine.
They later would become close friends.
"There was no gold and still, they found a place in their hearts to, you know, make him one of their close, good friends and take care of him and his family throughout his life," Andler said.
But the cherished memories of the unlikely friends came under threat about a decade ago. On Oct. 18, 2015, a storm dumped over two inches of rain in just five hours on Grapevine Canyon.
“It only takes, you know, less than an inch to start water and mud flowing," Andler said.
While that may not seem like a lot, for Death Valley, it’s actually a year’s worth of rain, and Scotty’s Castle was in the line of site.
“So Death Valley has a different response to flooding than other places made because out here being hottest, driest, lowest, we don't get a lot of plant life. There may be some grasses or things like that, but they don't necessarily hold back the force of water," Andler explained.
Today the signs of damage are barely visible at the historic home, as the park has spent nearly a decade on repairs worth $66 million.
“This project and all these repairs are solely funded by the income that we get from visitors coming to Death Valley," Andler said.
That money has also gone to construct added berms around creeks and dugouts along the road, to redirect any rainwater if another strong storm were to hit the area.
“So building in some resiliency against future floods," Andler said.
The restoration process is expected to be fully completed in 2026.
