One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

The first declared National Monument in the United States.

The highest point in South Dakota contains the ashes of Valentine McGillycuudy, the "Holy White Man."

The world's largest mountain carving could fit all of Mount Rushmore inside it many times over.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.

This ultra-modern home clings to the slope of the Hollywood Hills on a precarious stilt.

This massive mushroom has spent centuries eating its way across a huge swath of Oregon.

This perfectly preserved Chinese medicine shop was untouched for decades before being reopened as a museum.

Despite being a perfectly pleasant place to be, Loyalton can't seem to attract any visitors.

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.

This memorial pyramid marker honors one of the United States Government's first official camel riders.

America's largest man-made forest was planted in an effort to bring back the past.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

This humble historic facade hides a history of boozing and the gentlemanly sport of rat-fighting.

The creator of the carousel's bingo-pinball hybrid survives in California's oldest gaming establishment.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

A rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.