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It almost seemed like an April Fool’s Day joke. For just $1.05 million, you could live in your very own castle – or, you know, rent it out on AirB&B a night at a time like everyone else – right here in Cherokee County.
The three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home/event center in the backroads of Bellview comes with 10½ beautiful acres. The Charlotte Observer called it “a house that resembles a tiny Winterfell” from Games of Thrones. After it was featured April 1 on Zillow Gone Wild, a social media page that showcases interesting houses for sale, readers couldn’t stop talking about the home’s fascinating features.
Of course, Cherokee Scout readers are already well aware of our friendly neighborhood fortress. That’s in part because we published a front-page story in the Sept. 22, 2021, edition about the “Castle of Joy,” which is what siblings Vincent and Cristine Cambrea named it after purchasing the property. (Local resident Joy Stein of Wherehouse fame is another former owner; the local newspaper profiled her in the Dec. 27, 2023, edition.)
The Cambreas did a lot of work on the 3,500-square-foot castle, which overlooks a heart-shaped pond, a fire pit, moats and long-ranging mountain views. The interior halls are like taking a trip back in time to when kings and queens made all the rules, only with all of the modern amenities you would expect. And their dad helped turn a 1,000-square-foot pole barn workshop into a carriage barn, where guests could hold receptions or large events.
“It was the potential of the place that drew us in,” Vincent told the Scout in 2021. “There was no limit on what we could create there.”
“We never want to be finished with the castle,” Cristine said, to which her brother added, “For us, work is not a negative thing. Work, for us, is pleasure.”
Well, all good things apparently do come to an end since the castle is posted on realtor.com, where people can’t seem to stop talking about it.
- “It looks like medievalish on a budget.”
- “Perfect place to have a dungeon, in the middle of nowhere.” (The home does not actually have a dungeon, but it does feature a game room that could get you lost for hours.)
- “I never knew I needed a hot tub turret, but now I wonder how I ever lived without one!”
The Cambreas said they intended to leave the property to their children as a legacy of how they turned their sweat, tears and sometimes even blood into the Castle of Joy. While that’s probably not going to happen now, the castle can still be something that gives another family pride for the next few centuries.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 828-837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on X @daviddBstroh.