Thing #10 I Would Like to Like About Living Where I Do

Last month I began a series of posts on the things I like about living where I do, which has become an ongoing series. Soon after starting, I thought I'd list some of the things I haven't yet done or seen in the area, that I would LIKE to (things like the Cincinnati Observatory, the Dee Felice Cafe, the Boar's Head Festival, etc.). The list was nine items long.

I need to add to it. At least one more item:

10. Loveland Castle. In a ravine along the Little Miami River sits Chateua LaRoche, better known as Loveland Castle. Modeled after tenth century European castles, it was built by Harry Andrews, a fascinating man with a blazing IQ.

After service in World War I as a medic (he was a conscientious objector to mechanized warfare; he preferred the medieval kind), he settled in the Cincinnati area. In 1927, wanting to be able to take his boy scout troop for stays in the countryside, he was given two plots of land on the banks of the Little Miami River by the parents of two of his boys. Calling his troop 'The Knights of the Golden Trail,' he dreamed of a castle on the site. In 1929, he began to collect stones washed up on the banks of the river and started to build. Due to his job in a publishing house and commitment as a Sunday School teacher on weekends, he made little progress until 1955, when he retired. At the age of 65, devoted himself full-time to completing his life's dream.

Upon Harry's death in 1981, care of the castle fell into the hands of the Knights of the Golden Trail, now all grown men.

Today, the castle is open to the public as a tourist attraction, and a testament to Sir Harry's vision. It includes a dungeon, spyholes, suits of armor, and beautiful gardens. Sir Harry even created a hidden room in the garden that was not discovered until after his death, when that section of the Castle suffered some structural damage.



Loveland Castle (aka Chateau Laroche)
Website: http://www.lovelandcastle.com/
Address: 12025 Shore Rd, Loveland, OH 45140
Phone: (513) 683-4686
Hours: April-September open 11am-5pm every day; October-March open 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting. Call ahead to check.
Admission: $3 per person.