air-castle

Yet I can not quite agree that the habit of air-castle building is pernicious.

Study of Child Life Marion Foster Washburne

She established that fact to her own satisfaction ere long, although she was no great arithmetician, and she sighed as she built and demolished an air-castle in her own mind.

Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XVI., December, 1880. Various

Many an air-castle did we rear that night which the lapse of years have laid in the dust.

Walter Harland Or, Memories of the Past

Emperor of China, his room was ornamented with a picture of Confucius, before which he burned scented wood; and hanging over it was an air-castle, with the motto, "God is Love."

Life at Puget Sound: With Sketches of Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California Caroline C. Leighton

If he was building an air-castle he has since placed a firm foundation under it.

Hidden Treasures Or, Why Some Succeed While Others Fail Harry A. Lewis

The college girl cannot marry at this impulsive, air-castle age.

Wit, Humor, Reason, Rhetoric, Prose, Poetry and Story Woven into Eight Popular Lectures George W. Bain

For so far has his air-castle mounted that, were Molly to inhabit a hovel, that hovel to him would be home.

Molly Bawn Margaret Wolfe Hamilton

She stood there wide-eyed and silent among the ruins of her little air-castle.

The Man with Two Left Feet And Other Stories 1928

And before the aprons were done, Margarita had a fine air-castle up: herself and Alessandro married, a nice little house, children playing in the sunshine below the artichoke-patch, she herself still working for the Señora.

Ramona 1921

During my long life I have seen many a day-dream and many an air-castle go the way of Santa Claus and the wonderful "Lamp of Aladdin."

Christmas Its Origin, Celebration and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse Robert Haven Schauffler 1921