Nitt Witt Ridge
Encyclopedia
Cambria, California
Cambria is a seaside village located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the California State Route 1 . The name Cambria was settled upon in 1869 .It is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States...
, located at 881 Hillcrest Dr, Cambria Pines. Artist/recluse Arthur "Art" Harold Beal (d. 1992) bought his hillside lot in 1928, and spent most of the next 50 years carving out the terraces with only a pick and shovel, and creating his own "castle on a hill."
Arthur Harold Beal is known as Der Tinkerpaw or Captain Nitt Witt. Beal was garbage collector for the town of Cambria in the 1940s and '50s, and made good use of what Cambrians were throwing away, as well as the natural materials on the property, in the nearby pine forests, and on the area's beaches. Some parts are also reportedly remnants from Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle is a National Historic Landmark mansion located on the Central Coast of California, United States. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who died in 1951. In 1957, the Hearst Corporation donated the property to...
where he reportedly worked for a time. Other common building materials are beer cans
Beverage can
A beverage can is a tin can designed to hold a specific portion of a beverage. Beverage cans are made of tin-plated steel or aluminium.- History :...
, abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
shells, and concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. There are also washer drums, car rims, tile, car parts, and old stoves.
After Art died in 1992 at the age of 96, his ashes were spread around his favorite redwood on Nitt Witt Ridge. The house still is full of knicknacks and architectural uniqueness, despite the deterioration and ransacking it suffered after Art's death.
In 1999 Michael and Stacey O'Malley became the owners of Nitt Witt Ridge. They have repaired some of the house and cleaned up the gardens. Their enthusiasm for Nitt Witt Ridge is apparent in Michael's guided tours of the property. Tours are available by reservation only and include a four-minute video.
Nitt Witt Ridge is California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
No. 939. It is considered a thematic landmark, in connection with the Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21484. The plaque reads:
Nitt Witt Ridge, one of California's remarkable twentieth-century folk-art environments, is the creation of Arthur Harold Beal (Der Tinkerpaw, or Capt. Nitt Witt), a Cambria Pines pioneer who sculpted the land using hand tools and indigenous materials, inventiveness and self-taught skills. A blend of native materials and contemporary elements, impressive in its sheer mass and meticulous placement, it is a revealing memorial to Art's cosmic humor and zest for life.
California Registered Historical Landmark No. 939.
Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation for saving and preserving arts and cultural environments with the Art Beal Foundation, non-profit and educational corporation. June 26, 1986.
See also
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, a CatalanCatalan peopleThe Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
architect with a similar style, particularly La Sagrada FamíliaSagrada FamiliaThe ' , commonly known as the Sagrada Família, is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí...
in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. - Baldasare Forestiere, another Italian immigrant in California born the same year as Rodia who built the Forestiere Underground GardensForestiere Underground GardensForestiere Underground Gardens Located at 5021 West Shaw Avenue in Fresno, California are an unusual manmade creation built by Baldasare Forestiere, an immigrant from Sicily, over a period of 40 years from 1906 to until his death in 1946. The gardens, while subterranean, have many skylights and...
. - Hermit HouseHermit HouseHermit House is a spectacular though unconventional example of vernacular architecture in a similar vein to the Watts Towers. The earthen residence is situated on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean near the Sidna Ali Mosque in Herzliya, Israel...
, a unique residence located in HerzliyaHerzliyaHerzliya is a city in the central coast of Israel, at the western part of the Tel Aviv District. It has a population of 87,000 residents. Named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, Herzliya covers an area of 26 km²...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
with intricate mosaics entirely constructed by one man over thirty years. - Mystery CastleMystery CastleMystery Castle is located in the city of Phoenix, Arizona, in the foothills of South Mountain Park. It was built in the 1930s by Boyce Luther Gulley for his daughter Mary Lou Gulley. After learning he had tuberculosis, Gulley moved from Seattle, Washington, to the Phoenix area and began building...
, a house in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
built in the 1930s in a similar style. - Rubel CastleRubel CastleRubel Castle was established in Glendora, California, by Michael Clarke Rubel . It has been called "a San Gabriel Valley version of Watts Towers.”...
, a house in Glendora, CaliforniaGlendora, CaliforniaGlendora is a municipality in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2010 census, the population of Glendora was 50,073....
constructed in a similar style. - Ferdinand ChevalFerdinand ChevalFerdinand Cheval was a French postman who spent thirty-three years of his life building Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives...
, a French postman who constructed an "ideal palace" out of rocks in his spare time. - Justo Gallego MartínezJusto Gallego MartínezJusto Gallego Martínez is a former monk who has been erecting a cathedral-like building in the Spanish village of Mejorada del Campo since 1961.-Life and inspiration:...
, a Spaniard who built his own cathedral - Watts TowersWatts TowersThe Watts Towers or Towers of Simon Rodia in the Watts district of Los Angeles, California, is a collection of 17 interconnected structures, two of which reach heights of over 99 feet . The Towers were built by Italian immigrant construction worker Sabato Rodia in his spare time over a period of...
Sabato "Simon" Rodia constructed towers of wire, concrete and fragments of tile and china. - Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle VillageGrandma Prisbrey's Bottle VillageGrandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village, also known as Bottle Village, is a folk art piece, located in Simi Valley, California.This assemblage is one of California's Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments...
A Woman who built a whole village of discarded bottles. - House on the RockHouse on the RockThe House on the Rock, originally opened in 1959, is a complex of architecturally unique rooms, streets, gardens and shops designed by Alex Jordan, Jr...
Alex Jordan, Jr. constructed "Japanese House" atop rock pinnacle in Spring Green, WI. - Coral CastleCoral CastleCoral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian American eccentric Edward Leedskalnin north of the city of Homestead, Florida in Miami-Dade County at the intersection of South Dixie Highway and West 157th Avenue. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones , each weighing several...
was a unique estate made entirely of hand-carved stone by an eccentric immigrant. The Coral Castle Museum is located in Miami, Florida. - Victoria's Last Resort, an artist-designed B&B in Cambria. Unique mosaics in private setting. Victoria's Last Resort