IONE – A drive to this little town from the west is a trip through wide, empty, rippling grasslands. There's a soothing beauty to the expanse, a serenity in the rolling openness.

Then as you get toward town, Preston Castle materializes on a hill. It overwhelms its surroundings, startlingly sharp and huge and magnetic. It's a jolt of rich red brick, all points, edges, turrets and a mammoth 15-story tower that looks like something from "Lord of the Rings."

Up close, Preston Castle is just as impressive. Its weighty brick walls are edged with rough-hewn sandstone, giving it even more texture. Its earthy red color is robust and penetrating, and the curves and turrets are smoothly graceful. That huge square tower feels even bigger, more substantial and medieval.

Everything about this place – its look, its history, its current condition and even, possibly, its energy – is eccentric and fascinating.

One of this region's most dazzling buildings, Preston Castle barely survived abandonment and neglect, and now, slowly, it is being reborn.

One of the people involved in that rebirth is Doug Hawkins, but to understand his connection, you need to start with the history of the place.

The castle began life in 1894 as the Preston School of Industry, a reform school for boys as young as 12. Before then, young California lawbreakers were sent to places like Folsom Prison.

Preston – named after state Sen. Charles Preston, who pushed for the change – was designed to teach the boys a trade and ways to survive in life.

That's one reason for the Romanesque architecture.

"The state wanted something spectacular," Hawkins said. "This was a whole new way of doing things. They had dignitaries visiting and big receptions there."

Preston's first class came in 1894. There were seven boys. Five tried to escape. By 1895, the reform school had 170 wards.

Hawkins is a member of the Preston Castle Foundation. He and foundation President Marie Nutting were showing me around recently. Hawkins knows the building and its history well because his father, grandfather and great-grandfather worked there.

He was a small boy in the late 1940s watching his dad guard wards who were farming part of the school's then-330 acres. (The farm is now a golf course across the road.)

"I didn't think much of it," Hawkins said. "They were just boys like me."

He showed me one corner of the building where wards had carved their names. One says "F. McCowan 37." That was Francis McCowan, who would change his name and become actor Rory Calhoun.

Other boys who spent time at Preston included tennis great Pancho Gonzales, actor Lee J. Cobb, radio star Eddie Anderson (he later played Rochester on Jack Benny's show) and singer Merle Haggard. According to old records, Haggard was there because he was "incorrigible."

State officials closed the castle in 1960 after wards were moved to the new Preston Youth Correctional Facility nearby. Then California officially quit on the majestic building, and that's the part that breaks Hawkins' heart.

The state sold off the slate roof, opening the interior to five decades of rain, sun and birds. It sold materials and fixtures – The Firehouse restaurant in Old Sacramento bought the spiral staircase for $150 – and let the place fall apart.

Hawkins was showing me the meticulous workmanship inside the building, much of it stripped first by purchasers, then by vandals. Floors have rotted out. Walls and ceilings are peeling. Not so long ago, you could stand in the basement and see the sky.

"This is what 50 years of neglect looks like," he said.

The Preston Castle Foundation in 2001 signed a 50-year lease with the state for $1 a year and has slowly been rescuing the building. The foundation finally re-roofed it completely in 2008 and is refurbishing its 46,000 square feet as it can. The group has also been on a statewide scavenger hunt, finding crucial pieces and fixtures of the castle.

To raise money for all that, volunteers give tours at $10 a person; they rent the place to photographers, parties and weddings; and they partnered with a group of paranormal hunters for overnight ghost tours.

"Of all the places I've gone, this is my favorite," said Jackie Kleeb, the lead investigator for Flying Monkey Paranormal Investigations. She and her partners are official docents of Preston Castle.

"There's such an energy coming from that building. It's just an awesome place."

The big fundraiser comes Saturday. It's a charity wine tasting running from 3 to 6 p.m., with wine from more than 15 Amador County wineries, food, music and tours.

Hawkins and the foundation hope to attract as many as 500 people.

"This place has a habit of sucking you in," Hawkins said. "We just need to get enough people to see it."

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Tuesdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK).