Chateau Laroche, Loveland Castle

"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 midnight of the dark ages, and started it towards a gray dawn of human hope." - from the foreword, "Chateau Laroche" bookletThe history of Chateau Laroche has gotten hazy, given that its builder, Harry Andrews, has been dead for decades. Three facts, however, seem pretty clear: Harry built an imposing European-style castle by himself, Harry had a low opinion of the modern world, and Harry really enjoyed the company of young men.Harry was, by several accounts, a genius -- according to Harry Andrews and His Castle: A Rhetorical Study by Thomas A. Michel, Andrews was "said to have spoken seven different languages and to have had an IQ of 189."Harry objected to modern warfare -- killing at a distance. He preferred sword-to-sword medieval combat. He served as a medic in World War I, contracted spinal meningitis, and was declared dead. By the time that he was declared undead -- six months later -- his fiance had married another man. Harry seems not to have minded; he stayed in Europe, visiting castles. He steered clear of women, period.