Winter 2002 - 2003
1,018 Blocks, 25' High
4 Stories (!)
1 Door & 4 Windows (plus several fake windows)
Lasted 25 Days
It may not look it, but this fort was actually the beginning of a downward spiral that would eventually spell doom for this hobby. A lot of work was put into this monster, but it didn't still turn out like it should have. Nor did it get the attention that the last several forts had received. There were several reasons for this....
This fort was fundamentally different from any of the others, because it was built almost entirely with double-wall construction. This method turned out to be impractical, because it required far too much work.
It wasn't until about half-way through construction, that somebody noticed the entire fort had started to tip towards the house. But by this point it was too late to do anything about it, so we decided to just finish it anyway and take a chance on it. It did get finished, and it would tip even more over the weeks to come, but fortunately it did not fall over - at least not on its own.
This was by far the tallest and largest of our forts. The inside was made up of an unheard-of four stories, including the observation platform at the top. There was room at the top for several people to stand comfortably, as you can see in the top photo (that's me beside Chance the dog, and some of the helpers at the top). There were a total of three staircases; the one in the photo on the left was actually built right into the wall.
This fort survived some very nasty warm weather, including an ice storm that knocked out our power for almost four days. The double-wall construction was obviously what held it together. But it still continued to lean teasingly towards our house, and although I knew from experience that it did not pose a threat, other people weren't so confident and gave me quite a bit of gripe over it.
By the time it came time to tear it down, the entire fort had sunk by as much as two feet.
None of my doubting critics ever said another word about the subject.....