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| http://southernguidetolife.com/a-castle-for-sale-in-versailles-kentucky/ |
A man's house is his castle. ~James Otis
You expect to see horse farms in Kentucky. Or farms with cows
grazing on the hillsides. You expect to see small towns and even a few big
towns with high rising buildings. What you might not expect to see in Kentucky
is a castle. But right here in Central Kentucky in plain view of a major
highway between Lexington and Versailles, there sits a castle with stone walls
and turrets.
It's been on the market for a while at a price of 30 million.
That includes the 55 acres around it. And the tennis courts and pool inside the
walls. Not to mention the basketball court. Of course there are the crystal
chandeliers, velvet drapes and marble floors too. And more. Much more. You can
see some of the interior rooms at the link under the photo up top. Or here at
the Castle Post website.
Okay, so now some of you are wondering about a castle in Kentucky.
It's got an interesting history. The first builders were a couple who had
toured Europe in the 1960s and decided it would be fun to live in a castle. So
they came home to Kentucky and began planning and building. The outside walls
and turrets were built and some of the castle inside the walls when the dream
fell apart and they got divorced. The castle stood that way for years. More the
promise of a castle instead of an actual one. Then the owner passed away and
the castle was finally sold to new owner, Thomas Post, who set about finishing
it.
The builders were making progress when it caught fire and burned
in 2004. Most of us who always took a look over at the castle as we drove
by thought that would be the end of a castle in Kentucky. But the owner vowed
to rebuild and after several years he opened the Castle Post as a luxury hotel
and event site.
The owner has also generously hosted charity events that opened
the doors of the castle to curious local citizens who might never see inside
the castle otherwise. Unfortunately, I have never been able to attend one of
those events. I've never rented a room there and I won't be making an offer on
the castle although my oldest granddaughter used to beg to stop and look
through the castle every time she came home with me. She couldn't see why we
couldn't just go knock on the drawbridge and be welcomed inside. That was before
the new owners turned it into a hotel.
The castle is something of a landmark for us here in Central
Kentucky. It's great for directions. You turn by the castle. Or you go so many
miles past the castle. And you know, it's just not everywhere here in the states
you can drive down the road and look over and see a real honest to gosh castle.
But I'm happy with my little "castle" out here on the
farm. I'll just be content to read a story set in an English castle now and
again. Or maybe a story about a Kentucky castle if somebody writes one.
How about you? Have you ever dreamed of living in a castle?
