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CNN Live Today

Castle Made Up of Castaways Now Home and Monument to Unconquerable Spirit

Aired May 21, 2002 - 10:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: When Peter Wing returned from combat duty in Vietnam, his body was intact, but his soul was in tatters. So he embarked on assembling a project that was a bit more than the sum of its parts, if you will.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is a castle made up of castaways, and now both home and monument to an unconquerable spirit. We get details from reporter Mary Beth Wenger of CNN affiliate WRGB, in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WING: I thought this would be barn with some silos, but it just started to look more like a castle.

MARY BETH WENGER, WRGB REPORTER: That was over 30 years ago, when Peter Wing came from home from Vietnam to Millbrook Duchess County. He wanted solitude and this panoramic vista.

WING: Come up here and just reject everything. Please stay there and just leave me alone.

WENGER: But life often throws you a curve when you ask for something.

WING: It's funny how that turns around on you, because now it's attracted everyone.

WENGER: The castle Wing built, a three decade whimsical work in progress is made entirely of recycled materials, stones, metal, glass that someone else discarded.

WING: Those were curbing from a turnaround. It was the bottom of the Pleasant Valley water tower, and that's a '49 Packard hubcap.

WENGER: Poor as newlyweds, Wing and wife collected recycled items for a song. Some methods were a bit unorthodox.

WING: We blew up a railroad bridge initially.

WENGER (on camera): How did you get permission to do that?

WING: We didn't. WENGER (voice-over): Dragons are a recurring motif, and yes, there's a mote. Inside, there are suits of armor, a boat trow (ph), and carousel horses that cost $1.50 a piece. These kids never refused bath in this tub that was a planter in a former life. The sink is a reincarnated bird bath. Don't peek behind the curtain.

WING: You hear somebody go -- then you know they looked in the closet.

WENGER (on camera): Wing was 18 when he went to Vietnam. He returned nine months later. I wondered would this castle be what it is without that tour of duty in southeast Asia.

WING: In my unit, 63 guys got killed, and the oldest one was like 22, so that makes an impression on you, if you a chance to do something with your life then do something with it, even if it's rolling a rock up a hill for no reason.

WENGER: The man who wanted privacy found people showing up to look around.

WING: You would be 40 minutes (UNINTELLIGIBLE) with them in your driveway. Can I come walk around your house? Well, no.

WENGER: His wife figured they could keep people away by charging for tours. Well, instead, they now come by the busloads, from China, and Czechoslovakia an the Channel islands.

WING: This is my wife yelling at me.

WENGER: The castle takes on mythological proportion with wing stone sculpture of Cicipus (ph). You remember him forever condemned to roll a stone up a hill which automatically fell back when he reached the top. Well, the irony isn't lost on the artist.

WING: It is a curse. I feel like I'm cursed to roll a rock forever.

WENGER: Wing doesn't really seem to mind. In fact, he warms to the role of historian.

WING: You're just a curator of all this anyway. You will pass away someday, And hopefully it will go on to the next generation, hopefully you held a piece of America for someone.

WENGER: Mary Beth Wenger, channel 6 six news, Millbrook (ph), Duchess County.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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