Chateau Laroche, Loveland, Ohio

Chateau Laroche was built as an expression and reminder of the simple strength and rugged grandeur of the mighty men who lived when Knighthood was in flower. It was their knightly zeal for honor, valor and manly purity that lifted mankind out of the moral mid-night of the dark ages, and started it towards a gray dawn of human hope. The name of the Castle is "Chateau Laroche." Because so many castles of this type are located in Normandy and England, built about the time of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the name is in French. The goal "jail" contains a "nest" for "bad eggs."

Present human decadence proves a need for similar action. Already the ancient organization of Knights has been re-activated to save society. Any man of high ideals who wishes to help save civilization is invited to become a member of the Knights of the Golden Trail, whose only vows are the Ten Commandments. Chateau Laroche is the world headquarters of this organization, started in 1927. (This organization appears to only be in your heart. I believe that this world needs saving and I explain what is happening in my blog post "Are You Awake Yet".)

The Knights of the Golden Trail was incorporated in January 1973 under the laws of the state of Ohio, under the guidance of a Board of Trustees to look after the real property, and an Executive Committee to look after the membership. The property has been willed to the Order. It publishes a monthly news sheet called "The Golden Grail," mailed to members and their friends. Stories about the Order have bee published in numerous books, magazines and newspaper feature articles, as well as on TV and radio. 

Chateau Laroche means "Rock Castle." It was started on June 5, 1929 by Harry D. Andrews. It is a medieval type building, similar to those often seen in northern France and in the British Isles. According to history, the type was introduced into that part of Europe by the Vikings, Normans, or Crusaders. The Castle Banner is an adaptation of the banners of the various crusaders to the Holy Land. 

First floor

Stairs to the 2nd floor

Looking down from the 2nd floor

Andrews used a lot of stones from the river, but he also made concrete forms. How did Andrews make the blocks that he used to build his castle? All the bricks in the building are made from concrete, using paper milk cartons for forms, about 32,000 of them, mostly of the quart size. Many thanks are due to the hundreds of visitors who have donated milk cartons for this purpose. The blocks for the septic tank, and for most of the outside terraces and hotbeds, are also made of concrete, but cast in wooden forms with contained tin cans for insulation space.

Henry Andrews April 5, 1890 to April 16, 1981

Andrews had a very interesting occurrence while in the military. We learned of it watching a short film of his life at the castle. Here is an accounting that I found:

Harry Andrews’ improbable but true World War I service began in an army hospital. The young man was one of the 7,000 soldiers at Camp Dix, New Jersey, who were cut down by an outbreak of deadly cerebrospinal meningitis. Andrews’ motionless body was moved to a morgue, and his records were marked "deceased" and sent to Washington.

Harry Andrews was on the slab for some time. The body was then taken back to the hospital for dissection. Doctors opened the mouth, cutting away tissue from the upper palate for bacterial cultures. When the doctor discovered that blood was present, he realized that Andrews was not dead, but in a deep self-induced coma. One of the doctors said, "Let’s see if we can start his heart with this new stuff." The "new stuff" was adrenaline. A needle pierced his heart and the doctors punched his chest. Then his heart began to beat again.

Andrews was blind and paralyzed, and no one expected him to live. After a few weeks, he could sit up and eat. He weighed 89 pounds and was fed six times daily, sometimes gaining two or three pounds a day. Andrews’ sight came back, but he had to wear glasses. Later, doctors removed his blood to obtain meningococcus antibodies, and he became a blood bank to save others from the disease. Only one other Camp Dix soldier survived the initial outbreak.

Sometime later, Andrews found himself stationed at an army hospital at the Chateau La Roche, pres Razac-sur-l’Isle, in the Dordogne region of southwest France. There he served as a hospital administrator. Europe in 1918 was an unpleasant place, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson decried the violence, chaos and depravity of the day. Andrews simply called it "Hell." Nevertheless, the 28-year-old served his country well; he was also active in the YMCA and he taught French to American soldiers. Andrews, who studied architecture at Colgate University, also studied architecture at Toulouse University after the war. 

Like most returning doughboys, Andrews brought back a few ordinary souvenirs: his nurse cap, his mess kit and some postcards. But because of his architectural studies, he also brought back an idea for something extraordinary.

The land on which the castle now stands was bought in 1927, though various other lots have been added since then, until at present there are 14 lots, or about an acre and a half. The lots were purchased in order the Mr. Andrews' Sunday School Class of young men might have a place to camp, fish, swim and boat. At first the boys slept in tents, but about the third year the tents became so badly decayed that they were not much good. So Mr. Andrews told the boys if they would fetch stones, he would build them a "stone tent." He made two small rooms, which are now the bottoms of the two towers facing the river.

Some of the rooms on the first floor were not open to the public; mainly it was just the one room where people entered the castle. The rooms that the boys used for camping were not used more than one summer, for the depression came along and no one came to the castle regularly for more than three years. Meanwhile, most of the boys went into the CCC camps. After the depression relaxed a bit and Mr. Andrews could afford it, after caring for several boys who had no other home than his, he returned to the job of really constructing a Castle. 

Andrews worked alone on it ever since, with the exception of incidental help from visitors and friends who have carried stones, brought milk cartons, and even mixed some mortar. However, Andrews has completed more than 99% of all the work by himself, even though he appreciates the help many have given him, especially donations of cement, sand and other materials. During World War II, there was another period of a year or two when he could not work because of gasoline rationing and lack of cement. In fact, during the first 25 years he averaged only a little more than an hour a week on the structure.

After teaching Sunday School for about 30 years, Andrews gave up that part of his activities, and began to concentrate on finishing the Castle. In May 1955 he retired from his job at the Standard Publishing Foundation, and came to camp at the Castle while he worked at completing it. He stayed in the "Dome Room," which was the first part to be completed. He moved in on May 30, 1955.

The little sign says "Look up"

Looking up in the "Dome Room"

Construction progressed more rapidly after that and the "old pile of rocks" soon began to take shape. Camping was a bit "tough" in the winter with no accommodations other than the first settlers had. He heated the one room by fireplace, after cutting the wood by hand. Visitors came and went throughout the years and by welcoming these visitors, left little time to work on the castle. During 1980, 50,531 visitors came. 

By January 1981, about 56,000 pailfuls of stones had been carried up by hand from the river and the nearby gorge. At least 75,000 pailfuls will be needed. The amount of work time is approaching 22,000 hours, and about 1,600 sacks of cement had been used. The material in the castle weighs about 3,000 tons, not counting terrace walls. Including the purchase of the land, the installation of electricity, the digging of the well, and the plumbing, Andrews spent a little more than $125 a year since the project started.

The second floor is lined with bricks made from milk cartons. This is the Council Chamber where Knights met for discussions, for meals, and to entertain visitors. Since the thick walls would cause the outside light to enter in narrow shafts, a bay window causes the entering light to be diffused into every corner of the room, so that, in spite of the thick walls, there are no dark corners.

This room was considered the den, and had its very own fireplace. The walls are rough "pointed" like old castles in Europe. It did have a skylight. In this room is an ancient bas relief oil painting of Knights on a drawbridge. On this floor, a stone and concrete balcony faces the east and the Little Miami River. A broad concrete cap is built on the edge, where one can sit comfortably if not too much afraid of tumbling off. 

Also from this room runs a ladder, bolted to the walls, leading up to a small room under the nightest tower. In old castles such a room was used to imprison women, even a princess, often as hostages to keep the King's soldiers from trying to capture the castle. Near the ladder in the corner is a spy hole which looks directly across the main door of the room below. One can peep through this hole and see who is standing by the door, while those below cannot see who is watching them or even know they are being watched. Some old castles had several such holes. In the other tower corner of this floor is a bathroom and toilet.

The top of the castle is a flat, concrete area. This "fighting deck" is like that of the old Norman English castles of a thousand years ago. It is surrounded by breast high walls, and these walls are topped with 88 battlements. Of course, the ancient protector of the castle kept their heads behind these battlements while shooting spears and arrows between them to fight off an attacking enemy below. No two of the tower tops are alike. 

In these rooms are memorabilia such as suits of armor, chairs, helmets, swords, knives and many other things.

The Dungeon is constructed after the pattern of some that Andrews saw in Europe, when he remained in France after World War I, and attended college at Toulouse University. When he built the Castle, he made only two dungeon prison cells, though some old castles contained many. These dungeon walls are 30" thick. Then come 30" of soil. Outside this is the wall that supports the Castle. Since Andrews has very, very few prisoners, he built concrete shelves into one prison cell, and uses it as storage for homemade canned goods.

Into the Dungeon

"Prisoner" behind the door at the end

The Dungeon itself is the official neighborhood bomb shelter. The state civilian defense director inspected this shelter, and reported that though it is small in size, it is the safest one he has seen in the whole state of Ohio. The ceiling of the dungeon is like that of the other rooms in the Castle, except for a couple. It is composed of small flat stones set in mortar under a concrete slab poured on top for the floor of the room above. Engineers say that these stones are held up mostly by air pressure (147 pounds per square inch) of the atmosphere, since the concrete floor above prevents pressure from the top from acting on the tops of the stones. An alcove in the dungeon room holds an oil burning furnace to heat the whole building.

From the second floor we were able to walk out into the garden area. The terraces and gardens were started by carrying 54,000 five gallon buckets of dirt from the dungeon. It has been enlarged by soil carried from the fosse. The septic tank and leaching fields are under part of the terrace. 

Other terraces appear above the original terrace with hotbeds and flower beds. The hotbeds are arranged so that one can work in them without stooping. A small orchard is planted on the hillside, containing fruit trees, berries, grapes and nuts.

Knights of the Golden Trail

See the serpent?

Letter from Windsor Castle dated April 1918:

Letter from John D. Rockefeller dated November 25, 1916:

Harry Andrews never married. The Castle is his family and probably will be his monument. There have been many feature newspaper stories about the place and many on TV and radio. One story mentioned that the "Castleman" was single. The result -- more than 50 proposals of marriage from widows and old maids who wanted to live in a castle. 

Excerpts from the book "Citizenship" written by Harry Andrews in 1930:

Modern Knighthood: Nothing that God ever made on the earth is more awe inspiring and heart warming than the sight of a noble youth just budding into manhood, clean minded, honest, honorable, gentle, living in God's image, and humbly conscious of His approval. Save God's own direct Son such a young man is the highest achievement to be counted his friend, is probably the greatest of life's rewards. It makes one want to bow in reverent of the Creator's handiwork. To know such a youth, and worship and thank God for the privilege of being counted in the same category of His creatures. Thank God there are such young men. They also are saviors of mankind.