Some of the pictures of the work done in 2001.

This is a winter view of the castle. This photo was taken in January, 2001.



This is a picture of the progress as of 4-17-2001. It looks the same now as it did when we stopped for the winter last year. We have now started work for the year 2001.

These are the basement stairs that we just finished. These are temporary. The stringers are permanent, but the steps are just old 2X4's. We don't want to install good steps which will just be banged up during construction. The 2X4's will be replaced with better steps after all the work on the castle is finished.

This is a photo of two doors that were donated to the Dupont Castle building project by Frank Bredimus. Mr. Bredimus is the owner of Berkeley Castle. During renovation of his castle, he found that he did not need these old doors. They were once part of Berkeley Castle and are probably about 110 years old. They need work, but we will repair them and find a place for these wonderful old artifacts.

This is what the second floor of the keep looks like as of 4-27-2001. We have finished the 16th row of blocks. We need to do 12 more rows to have the second floor walls completed.

This is what the outside of the keep looks like as of 5-15-2001. We have finished the 20th row of blocks. We need to do 8 more rows to have the second floor walls completed.

This is what the second floor of the keep looks like as of 5-15-2001. We have finished the 20th row of blocks, and started on the next two rows. We need to do 8 more rows to have the second floor walls completed. The openings in row 20 are, of course the openings where the windows will be.

This is the progress as of 5-30-2001. We are at row 23 most of the way around. We have approximately 5 more rows of blocks to set before we can start on the carpentry work for the second floor.

This is where the second floor guest bedroom will be someday. It will have it's own tower area and two other windows.

This is the progress as of 6-19-2001. We are at row 26 all of the way around the straight walls and row 28 on both towers. This view shows the kitchen tower and the wall we refer to as wall 3. You can see a door in the kitchen tower. Someday this door will lead to a porch or deck We expect the final keep to be approximately 52 rows tall, so what you are looking at is just about half as tall as the keep will be when finished. We have another entire floor plus crenelations to complete.

This is the progress as of 6-19-2001. This view is of the entrance tower and the wall we refer to as wall 4. The main entrance to this part of the castle is a door which is in this tower just around the corner to the right.

Baltazar the guard dog is on duty protecting the castle.

7-5-2001 - We have finished the block work for the second floor, and have started installing the wall studs. As soon as we are finished with those, we will start installing the floor joists.

7-19-2001 - We have finished installing the floor joists on the front half of the keep and part of the rear half.

7-19-2001 - We also have installed some of the flooring on the front half.

8-01-2001 - Almost all of the floor plywood has been installed for the third floor. We are painting it to protect it from the weather.

8-01-2001 - We also now have a stairway from the second to the third floor.

8-29-2001 - We have completed row 32 all the way around, and we have moved enough blocks up to the third floor to do the next row. The tower you see in the far corner will be part of one of the guest bedrooms. When you come for a visit, you will have a great view.
9-12-2001 - We have completed row 36 all the way around the keep. We have about 5 more rows to go before we're finished with the block work for the third floor.

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Our friends the Fredericks came up to visit on Sunday September 16th. While Frank and Bev toured the castle, Joey and Jonny pitched in to help do some clearing using Moatmonster the backhoe.
Joey Frederick
Jonny Frederick
Thanks Joey and Jonny. You can both come up and help again anytime.

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This is a photo of our friend Tiny Lizard. He doesn't look like much now, but he says that when he grows up, he will be 20 feet long and will weigh 800 pounds. I'm a bit skeptical, but if he does, we will hire him to guard the moat.
10-1-2001 - We have completed row 40 all the way around the keep. We have about 2 more rows to go before we're finished with the block work for the third floor. Then we can start installing wall studs, ceiling joists, and with any luck, we can get some sort of temporary roof installed to protect the keep from the winter weather.
10-16-2001 We have now finished all of the block work that we need to do this year, we have reached roof level on the keep. We will try to get a temporary roof on before winter gets here. Next year, we will have a permanent roof installed, and add several more rows of blocks around the top. These rows will have the crenelations in them. The towers will be about 4 or 5 feet taller than the walls.
10-16-2001 Now that we have finished this years block work, we have started on the carpentry work. This is a photo of the wall studs going in on the third floor.
10-31-2001 We have finished all of the wall studs and ceiling joists except for one tower. On our next trip, we should be able to finish the studs and joists and start placing the roof plywood.
11-13-2001 We now have a stairway from the third floor to the battle deck (roof).
11-14-2001 This is a photo of the ceiling joists/rafters from the top. This will be a flat roof, but it is about 6 inches higher in the center than at the edges giving it a slope of about 1/4 inch per foot.
11-14-2001 We have most of the roof plywood in place.
11-14-2001 Princess Patricia is begining to paint the plywood to help protect it from the weather. We will also place a large tarp over it.

Click here for Answers to frequently asked questions about Dupont Castle.

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