What comes to mind when you see a pebble or a stone? Many people will use them for landscaping or for painting beautiful designs and pictures on them for a doorstop or paperweight. But one man had a grander idea than that—he actually built a castle out of pebbles, stones, porous tufa and fossils. It is open for the public to see today and stands in Hauterives, southeastern France. Just looking at the pictures leaves you in awe of this man’s talent and labor!
Ferdinand Cheval was born in the year 1836 into a poor farming family. At the age of 13, he dropped out of school to become a baker’s apprentice, and he later became a postman. One day, when he was 43 years of age, he was walking very fast while delivering his mail and nearly tripped over a stone. Noticing its unusual shape, he put it into his pocket to admire later. But it reminded him of a dream that he had had 15 years before. In his dream, he had built “a palace, a castle or caves, I cannot express it well ... ”
Amazing Dedication
The next day, he went back to the same spot and noticed even more beautiful stones. He began to collect them and to bring them home, first in his pockets, then in a basket and then in a wheelbarrow. For the next 33 years, he worked on his Le Palais Idéal. Being a mailman by day, he would often work by night in the light of an oil lamp.
It took him 20 years just to build the outer walls. Working pebble by pebble, rock by rock and with fossils of all shapes and sizes, he used lime, mortar and cement to hold it all together. Though he had never travelled or seen these places (perhaps he got his ideas from postcards), his architecture resembles a mixture of Chinese, Egyptian, Algerian and Northern European influences, with themes of Christianity, Hinduism and Islam throughout. Many of the walls have animals carved into them: two ostriches and their chick, a four-foot camel, flamingoes, octopi, lions, dragons and a polar bear. The palace also includes two waterfalls, named the Source of Life and the Source of Wisdom. It is an incredible 85 feet long and 30 feet high!
There are inscriptions of quotes and poems that he carved into the walls of the palace. Some of them are quite interesting. Here are a few of them: “If you look for gold, you will find it in elbow grease.” “The ecstasy of a beautiful dream and the prize of effort.” “The work of one man.” “Dream of a peasant.” “Palace of the imagination.” And most telling of all: “1879-1912, 10,000 days, 93,000 hours, 33 years of struggle. Let those who think they can do better try.”
After Mr. Cheval finished building his Le Palais Idéal, he opened it up for the public to see. But that was not the end of his story! It was his wish to be buried in his palace, but it was illegal, so he spent the next eight years of his life building a mausoleum to be buried in. It turned out to be no less intricate and detailed than his palace! He lived almost a year after finishing his mausoleum and passed into eternity in 1924.
Vital Importance
Mr. Cheval found something to do that was very important to him, so important that he devoted many years of his life to it. Towards the end of his life, he received recognition from quite a few famous people, including Pablo Picasso himself. But if Mr. Cheval worked for his personal honor and pleasure, he had a sad surprise coming. God tells us that one day all of man’s works that he takes such pride in will be burned up! “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). This will happen when God’s patience with the results of man’s rebellious ways will finally come to an end.
God tells us what is important and what really matters. It is the choice we make regarding His dear Son, Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins; He paid the penalty for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to. But we must put our trust in Him (Jesus) and come to God in repentance. This means that we realize that God is right when He says that we are hopeless, helpless sinners and deserve eternal damnation. When we put our trust and confidence in the work of Jesus and the blood shed on Calvary’s cross for our sins, trusting God to forgive us, we then have eternal life. Everything else in life is secondary! To have saving faith in Jesus is essential.
Carefully consider these verses: “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:15-1815That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:15‑18)).
To admire Jesus as “a good man” is not enough. To admit that there is a God is not enough. To know the facts in your head about Jesus’ death and resurrection is not enough. To respect the creation above the Creator is deadly. In fact, this seems to be the mistake that Mr. Cheval made, for he said, “It’s a sandstone shaped by water and hardened by the power of time. ... I said to myself: Since nature is willing to do the sculpture, I will do the masonry and the architecture.”
All of us can make one of two choices: to believe or not to believe. God states it very clearly, in these sobering words: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)). The consequences are eternal — what will your choice be?
Ferdinand Cheval had a unique talent that no one since has been able to match. Read about another man who had a physical ability that has not been matched since in Growing Before Your Very Eyes!