[MaxBigfoot]

Though it looks like a European castle, this building is actually in Sichuan province, China, just outside Chongqing.
I have no idea why.   

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Though it looks like a European castle, this building is actually in Sichuan province, China, just outside Chongqing.
I have no idea why.   

Because the Chinese mimic EVERYTHING!

[CarlTL]

Though it looks like a European castle, this building is actually in Sichuan province, China, just outside Chongqing.
I have no idea why.   

And I bet it isn't built to last either.

[solvegas]

One of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas, opened in 1946 on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas and in 1973, Steve Wynn obtained majority ownership of the property and in 1977 he completely refurbished it, and he had Frank Sinatra do commercials to advertise it at that time and later on, he sold the property so he could have the money to open the first of the Megaresorts, The Mirage. Anyways, the property is still considered one the most luxurious in the Downtown area even though a couple of years ago the Cerca was built not far from it and it is larger and nicer. The electronic canopy you see nearby is called The Fremont Street Experience.

[Cutter]

That casino and several others on Freemont still had horse hitching posts outside of it back in the 1940's and I think early 1950's.

My father was a kid in that time frame and went of a trip to see family in the Vegas area and remembered them.

[solvegas]

Opened on April 4, 1957, conceived by Ben Jaffe who had Mob connections at the time and will be closed April 2, 2024, the Tropicana hotel and casino will be missed by many of us locals here in Las Vegas who remember its golden days. The reason it will be demolished, as of now, is so that a Major League Baseball stadium which will house the Athletics, aka A's, will be built there and a new property called Bally's will share the land.  One of its most memorable features was its casino ceiling which had a curved glass and art look. Back before there were cameras like now, back in the day the casinos had surveillance personnel which would look through the glass and check the players and look for cheaters and if they did find them, they would call Security who would then in those days proceed to grab that person, takes him to the Security Office and beat the crap out of them and maybe drive him out to desert and bury him alive and shoot him. The Mafia/Mob didn't put up with shit in those days.  In those days, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin would be allowed to deal in table games and so, if you had the connections, you could play with the Rat Pack and have them as your dealers. Of course, nowadays you need to be licensed by the state of Nevada to be a dealer. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

An illustration from 1907 when bigger, taller office buildings were continuously going up.  Trinity church had been the tallest building in NYC in 1890. 

Although air rights were never sold over Trinity, this illustration was far outstripping by even taller buildings in 30 to 40 years.

[MaxBigfoot]

King Alfred Tower, is one of many “follies” built in Britain. Follies are those buildings erected by the upper classes during the heights of British power for sole purpose of displaying wealth and entertaining friends. This particular folly was built to celebrate a victory by the Saxon, King Alfred, over the Danes in 878 AD, and is the legendary site where the King raised his standard prior to the battle.

Built by the Hoare banking family, the triangular tower is constructed from over one million red bricks and stands 59m in height. Work on the tower began in 1762 AD, and was completed in 1779 AD, with the addition of a 10ft high statue of King Alfred in an alcove above the entr@nce.

This tower was mentioned in a poem by the British poet, Thomas Hardy, in his poem entitled “The Channel Firing” written in 1914 AD.

Damage to the tower occurred during WWII, when an American plane crashed into it, severely damaging the upper 10m of the structure. Turret was repaired in 1986 with a helicopter, which was used to lower the new cone onto the tower. Today, visitors can once again climb the stairs to the viewing platform at the top.

[solvegas]

Hugh Hefner founded playboy Magazine in 1953 in Chicago but in 1974 he moved to Holmby Hills at the advice by his girlfriend of the time, Playmate Barbi Benton, and he lived there until his death in 2017. Famously known for the hedonistic lifestyle and raucous partying in the place, it had 29 rooms and it was 22,000 square feet or 2047 square meters in size. It was built in 1927 for Arthur Letts Jr, son of Broadway stores founder Arthur Letts. I remember from the 70's and 80's when some the TV shows were done in it. 

[MaxBigfoot]

Golestan Palace, located in Tehran, Iran, is a UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its exquisite architecture and historical significance. It served as the royal residence for Persian monarchs of the Qajar dynasty and later as the seat of the Pahlavi dynasty. The palace complex comprises several palaces, museums, halls, and gardens, each adorned with intricate tilework, stunning frescoes, and ornate architecture reflecting Persian artistic and cultural heritage.

[solvegas]

First started as a hunting lodge by French King Louis XIII in 1623 about 19 kilometers, or 12 miles, west of Paris, his son Louis XIV started to expand it to make it a palace and move the French Court noblemen out of Paris and make it the DeFacto capital of France beginning in 1661 until 1715 and continuously expanded by his son Louis XV, Versailles Palace is one of the largest and opulent palaces ever built.

[solvegas]

The Castle of Chapultepec in Mexico City. Construction started in 1785 on top of what was a sacred hill of the Aztecs called Chapultepec, which is Nahuatl, language of the Aztecs meaning "Hill of the grasshoppers", by the Viceroy of New Spain, Bernado De Galvez, and after Mexican Independence in 1821, it was used as a presidential palace, military academy, the palace of Emperor of Mexico Maximillian I when the French occupied Mexico from 1862 to 1867, and in 1939 it became a museum. It is now part of Chapultepec Park and there is a popular Mexican song about it, " Las Rejas de Chapultepec" or in English, the gates of Chapultepec, and if you've ever heard of the US Marine Corps hymn, "From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli", during the Mexican-American war, the US Marines assaulted and occupied the castle which was defended by Mexican cadets which, because they were shooting at the Marines, they got killed even though they were boys, and there is a monument in site called "Los Ninos heroes". 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

King Alfred Tower, is one of many “follies” built in Britain. Follies are those buildings erected by the upper classes during the heights of British power for sole purpose of displaying wealth and entertaining friends. This particular folly was built to celebrate a victory by the Saxon, King Alfred, over the Danes in 878 AD, and is the legendary site where the King raised his standard prior to the battle.

Built by the Hoare banking family, the triangular tower is constructed from over one million red bricks and stands 59m in height. Work on the tower began in 1762 AD, and was completed in 1779 AD, with the addition of a 10ft high statue of King Alfred in an alcove above the entr@nce.

This tower was mentioned in a poem by the British poet, Thomas Hardy, in his poem entitled “The Channel Firing” written in 1914 AD.

Damage to the tower occurred during WWII, when an American plane crashed into it, severely damaging the upper 10m of the structure. Turret was repaired in 1986 with a helicopter, which was used to lower the new cone onto the tower. Today, visitors can once again climb the stairs to the viewing platform at the top.

That’s a big folly!  I’ve been watching a show about the estate that was used in the show Downton Abbey and they pointed out a couple of follies on the grounds.  Interesting stuff.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Chinatown NYC, 1900.  Love the two buildings on the right.

[MaxBigfoot]

Chinatown NYC, 1900.  Love the two buildings on the right.

Almost the definition of the word, "eclectic".  Love all the fancy balconies, and the neat rooflines.