"... Then we began decorating and glorifying it till it turned into a castle with an organ and a bell tower and chimes. .. it makes a fine lodge when we come in off the desert, hot and dusty. It's not nearly finished and maybe never will be..." Bessie Johnson
The Johnsons were accustomed to a privileged lifestyle. Their desert vacation home reflected some of the luxuries they had always enjoyed. Vintage cars indicate the Johnsons' effortless mobility in a time when travel was a luxury. While many of Bessie's possessions reveal her love of the finer things in life, her sober, religious side is also expressed in items found in their home.
Scotty left his mark throughout the Castle as well. Numerous items in the house, including two "shotsplitters," plates with curved edges, and a garbage can disguised as a well enhanced Scotty's famous stories. Albert's impressive gun collection was probably amassed with Scotty's tales of desert showdowns in mind. Overall, the home was influenced by nostalgia for the Old West but did not lack the extravagance of the Johnsons' Chicago lifestyle.