George R.R. Martin will not, repeat not, be building a castle in his backyard.
It’s Friday! What’s George R.R. Martin up to? Not building a castle, that’s for sure. Santa Fe city officials responded this week to his proposal to build one in his backyard—his second request to do so!—with an unequivocal “no,” with a side of “are you kidding,” local media outlets reported.
The castle would have housed a library, according to the architectural proposal, but since Martin lives in a historic district of Santa Fe and the construction would have exceeded the height limit for his zone, it required the approval of the Historic Districts Review Board—which, it cannot be said enough, really does not want it to happen.
Here are some things that locals have said about the castle:
“It is a medieval castle, and I don’t understand how we could possibly approve it in this style.” —Historic Districts Review Board member Frank Katz to the Santa Fe New Mexican
“We thought it was Winterfell when we first saw the plans. All it’s missing is Jon Snow and a couple of dragons.” —An anonymous neighbor to the Daily Mail
“Mark Graham, who lives directly to the south of the property, said he wouldn’t support a height exception — ‘nor will we support having a castle in the neighborhood.’ ” — Graham to the Santa Fe New Mexican
In conclusion: George R.R. Martin will not, and I repeat, not, be able to build the castle-style library of his dreams, but he can still take comfort by visiting his own movie theater, browsing in his own bookstore, or riding the train he owns. You know, normal self-care stuff.
