Castello di Amorosa: California Medieval

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,’ we visit a medieval revival castle in California’s Napa Valley wine country.

Over 8,000 tons of hand-chiseled, locally quarried stone and almost a million antique European bricks went into Castello di Amorosa’s construction. Owner Dario Sattui was “determined to make the Castello authentic in every respect.” Indeed, as is evident in this front view, the castle’s main architectural feature is its merlons, the solid, upright, square or rectangular section of a battlement—or open area at top of towers, turrets, and roofs—as well as its crenels, the spaces in between the merlons. Surrounding the castle are manicured lawns, trees, and acres of vineyards. Castello di Amorosa

Perched on a hill overlooking vast fields in Calistoga, California, is an enchanting medieval-style castle: Castello di Amorosa. Authentically designed to mirror centuries-old castles in Europe, the vast 121,000-square-foot structure’s construction began 30 years ago.

The goal of Castello di Amorosa owner Dario Sattui was to achieve as close to the look of a 14th-century castle as possible. He said: “I used only old, handmade materials. and I built it employing the same methods and materials that would have been used 700 to 800 years ago.”