A Castle in Ohio?

YES!  A Castle in Ohio, USA - Chateau Laroche in Loveland, OH!  The man, Harry Andrews, who built it had a heavy interest in knights and castles.  He served in World War I as a nurse and didn't agree with modern warfare. 

He regularly had friends coming to his little neck of the words to fish on the little river, which the castle overlooks, and just hang out.  The called themselves the Knights of the Golden Trail.  Their only vows were the ten commandments, which just so happen to be inlaid into one of the walls inside the castle. 

Also, in the castle walls are a large number of rocks and stones from all over the world.  We were unsure if these were all places that Mr. Andrews had personally visited, but no matter, it was really neat to see them throught the castle randomly placed in the block. 

The winding steps up to the second and third floors as well as to the dungeon were quite treacherous (stone steps with alternating heights).  But, my understanding is that they were built that way on purpose to slow the process of intruders.  Didn't make it easy to navigate in flip-flops and with a nervous pre-schooler, but it was well worth it.

This is a very interesting place to visit.  When we first found it we didn't consider how sacred it was, but upon visiting and learning about the story we came to realize it was a very sacred place to him, and his "knights" were a very sacred group.  Mr. Andrews also taught Sunday School at the castle for a number of years. 

Perhaps the old guy was eccentric, but the place was certainly deeply important to him and his fellow "knights".  When he died in 1981 he left the property to be taken care by the KOGT (Knights of the Golden Trail).   

Keep your eyes, your hearts, and your minds open.  You just might come to find out how spiritual and sacred things that may seem odd or eccentric to you are to other people.