Castles are pretty cool right? I mean, what’s not to like? Massive structures built to withstand weather and war for ages and ages yet maintaining that rich aura of history and adventure. Whether we’re talking about real castles like The Forbidden City, the Palace of Versailles or Bran Castle (the castle said to be the inspiration for Dracula’s castle) or fictional ones like Camelot, Minas Tirith or Drangleic Castle, these monolithic structures enforce this idea of importance and grandeur by their presence alone. But a castle doesn’t have to be massive to carry this idea across. Sometimes it can be pretty small indeed.

It’s circa 2009. Preferred Solutions has been doing fairly well in the past few years and expansion was needed. We were looking for somewhere new to set up shop and the powers at be had a few very specific requirements. We need squirrels and a river. Two sides of a scale that threw a pretty wide net over the Helderberg area. Adventures were had all around looking for this fabled ‘castle’ where Preferred Solutions could set up a more permanent fortification of sorts. And like King Arthur leaving Caerleon for the most magnificent court at Camelot, they found their castle, a beautiful building, nestled in the greenery of Somerset West. With a few native squirrels and a babbling brook nearby, in addition to some pristine granite floors, darkwood trim and levelled open interior.

Moving into this fine building, all would be well for a good long while… Well, truth be told, not entirely well per se. I mean, it would flood twice, once with enough water for jet skis to be traipsing the interior of the nearby hospital to ferry people in and out of the Somerset West area. But the castle would stand. No siege could make it move and no army could breach its defenses. And many a good time and story would originate from within its walls. And, hopefully, I can tell you more about what transpired. But that is a story for another day…