Newman’s Castle

I’m back with another fun location that I had the pleasure of visiting this past week! The last time I went out to Round Top, I wanted to visit this castle but we didn’t have reservations and were unable to take the tour. Well we finally got to visit and I’m gonna tell you all about our experience!

Way back in a forest surrounded by gated entrances, sits a castle in Bellville, Texas! It’s called Newman’s castle and it is an actual residence of the owner and builder of the castle. It’s a castle built of cinder blocks and it’s surrounded by a moat with an actual working drawbridge. There is a bell tower as well and it’s legit in its looks from the outside and inside.

I’m sure you want to know more about the castle and how to get tickets and all of that! Let’s talk about that and the tour and the specifics of my particular visit.

I called a couple of weeks in advance to make a reservation. They don’t take payment over the phone so you just reserve your spots. You have to visit the Newman’s Bakery to get your tickets and pay for them- NOT THE CASTLE!! I’m putting this in caps because they are not nice to people who don’t go into the bakery and get wristbands. I witnessed this myself at the castle when an older couple showed up and didn’t have the wristbands. They made a big deal in front of everyone saying they couldn’t have sandwiches and all of this which I felt was incredibly rude. Granted, when you visit the website to find out about the castle, it does say go to the bakery but the bakery is several miles away and if someone gets confused and goes to the castle instead and the gates are open, find a way to have them pay at the castle and be nice.

It really is a weird setup to have to visit the bakery and this is not the only thing that I think could be updated IMO. But you do have to visit the bakery and stand in a line to pay for your tickets. I think they’re hoping that you will go early for breakfast and/or buy pastries but I really wish that you could buy the tickets online and then head straight to the castle. Again- just my opinion.

So we got there and got our tickets, drove to the castle and then headed into the woods to park. They say that there is a red clay driveway to turn down but it’s paved- we followed maps and it took us to the right place. There is lots of sand so be sure to pack other shoes if you’re looking for glam shots! There had been rain right before we went so it was quite a bit muddy.

You get there and then they want you to sit under a shelter with benches and listen to this nonsense about other places to visit near there. A lady kept yelling all of this info out while the crowd continued to arrive. She passed out water since it was hot. They yelled at us and I do mean yelled to be quiet during this time. They also kept yelling at people to get closer which I didn’t like as we are in the middle of a pandemic. I felt this was highly disrespectful to others in attendance who wanted to stay farther away from people.

All of this and we just wanted to see the castle and take pics! We also were made then to wait for the “king” to arrive and then listen to his whole speech. He proceeded to “knight” all of the kids who came forward. He answered some questions about the castle but refused to answer any relating to money spent on the castle. I can’t help it- I just got a weird vibe from this guy the whole time we were there. Another thing highly inappropriate happened and that was when he was taking questions a little boy asked if he could give him a hug. This little boy was the cutest! He went up and gave the “king” a hug and then the “king” proceeded to ask if any girls had the same question? Ewww I told you gross. Then he said how it was so good to be king- like the whole thing grossed me out if I’m being completely honest.

After this whole thing we were then told we could move down to the end of the driveway and see a catapult demonstration or we could stay under the shelter. Mind you the whole time they kept yelling about water and stay out of the sun so we’re wondering if something happened there at some point. Anyways we headed down there but it was too much sun and it’s like 100 degrees at this point so we headed back. We tried to take pictures by the castle but we were told no and to go sit down. Apparently at some point, the kids were going to raid the castle. And I guess we wouldn’t be able to see this and get out of the way in time?

The kids finally came and then we could finally go inside the castle. This was at least an hour that we had to wait outside. They did a good job with handing out water but I would have liked to see fans inside the shelter. It’s too hot out there for no fans. There’s some air conditioning inside the castle but they wouldn’t allow you to wait in there. I’m thinking they could use another one or two people on staff to help with the traffic at the gates and parking and one inside to watch the food and not have it get eaten prior to lunchtime.

The website lists a price of $15 per person but the bakery is charging $20 a person so beware of that if you have a large group. The bakery also has a hard time of answering the phone and multiple days it rang busy as I was trying to get through. Again, an online reservation system would be more helpful for this.

When you do finally enter the castle, various parts of it look authentic and it is really cool. However, I couldn’t get past the fact that this guy lives there and has tours - even in his bedroom and bathroom which his toothbrush is out on the sink and everything! Just me? Okay maybe but put your stuff away and clean it all up before people visit your house 6 days a week! Again, eww I was just grossed out by him I think in general.

When you get done looking around the place, you can have a sack lunch with your choice of sandwich and they had some fresh donuts and cookies out as well that were good.

I will say that if you have kids, maybe the “show”might be something they would like - I don’t know- I found it to be an inconvenience to those of us who just wanted to see a castle! Perhaps have some additional information on your website about this as well?

All in all, I really came for the pics and I was sure to deliver. I wore a gorgeous dress from Eloquii that you can shop here and some strappy shoes from Just Fab. I really think I channeled a damsel in distress that doesn’t need saving. Lol if you know you know…

Enjoy all of these pictures of me and the castle!