Chateau Laroche
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:22 pm
This is the castle in Loveland, Ohio that's about an hour and a half away from Cincinnati, 45 minutes from where I live. I've been there several times, and it really is quite cool, but not exactly realistic. It was made by one man who hauled all the rocks (with the exception of when boy scouts came, whoever lost a game (took apart a puzzle and couldn't put it back together, etc.), they had to haul a bucket from the Little Miami River). Several parts weren't "accurate" such as the doorways not having a center stone on the arch, and the ramparts being unstable to the point of visitors not being allowed to walk on them. It really is a great example of how medieval life of nobles worked. We came on a hot day, around 90* Fahrenheit, and it was easily 65* in the castle dungeon, the rest being around 70*. I recommend it to anyone in the Ohio area. Here's a link to the castle website: http://www.lovelandcastle.com/
There is also a quite nice selection of medieval weaponry; for instance, a dirk for, what, $20? Liam knows, I think. Liam, if you read this, tell me how much it costs for one of them. Plenty of swords, too, which we had a look at. Don't know the price, but I think one of them was $80. Definitely a good time. And a cool story that the smelly Scotsman will tell you while giving you the grand tour.
Oh, forgot to mention, there's something really cool.... In Cincinnati, the city was tearing down an old Cathedral, while one of the Knights of the Golden Trail was driving by, and, as luck would have it, he stopped by to check what was going on, and found an old Archbishop's seat about to be trashed. He took it, and brought it back to the castle. It is said to be more valuable than the entire castle.
There is also a quite nice selection of medieval weaponry; for instance, a dirk for, what, $20? Liam knows, I think. Liam, if you read this, tell me how much it costs for one of them. Plenty of swords, too, which we had a look at. Don't know the price, but I think one of them was $80. Definitely a good time. And a cool story that the smelly Scotsman will tell you while giving you the grand tour.
Oh, forgot to mention, there's something really cool.... In Cincinnati, the city was tearing down an old Cathedral, while one of the Knights of the Golden Trail was driving by, and, as luck would have it, he stopped by to check what was going on, and found an old Archbishop's seat about to be trashed. He took it, and brought it back to the castle. It is said to be more valuable than the entire castle.