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Loveland Castle (Château Laroche)

Loveland · Hamilton County · Southwest Ohio

A medieval-style castle one man built by hand over fifty years

Handmade castleBuckeye Trail Town

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.

Content last reviewed: September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source: Official page
Location confidence: Verified entrance or visitor center
Loveland Castle Museum, 12025 Shore Dr
Seasonal access: April through September, daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; October through March, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Check current conditions: Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets: Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A stone castle on the Little Miami River that Harry Andrews built by hand over five decades, with a dungeon, a moat and a chapel.

Builder: Harry Delos Andrews, 1890 to 1981, a World War I medical veteran and Boy Scout troop leader
Group: The Knights of the Golden Trail, his troop of boys, who fetched stone from the river
Materials: Stones from the Little Miami River (one account counts 56,000 pails), then concrete blocks he molded in milk cartons
Begun: June 5, 1929 by one account; another gives 1927
Inside: A dungeon, a moat, a chapel with stones sent from around the world, and towers
Legacy: He left the castle to the Knights of the Golden Trail, who maintain it

The story

Harry Andrews served as a medic in World War I and was stationed at the Château de la Roche in southern France, where he fell in love with medieval castles. Back in Ohio he taught a Sunday school class and led a Boy Scout-style troop of boys he called the Knights of the Golden Trail, who camped on plots of land beside the Little Miami River, plots that came through a Cincinnati newspaper's subscription promotion. Their gear kept being stolen, so Andrews decided to build them a stone shelter, and then a castle. He began work in 1929 and carried stones from the riverbed himself for 52 years, and when the river stones ran out he cast blocks in quart milk cartons.

The result, called Château Laroche, is modeled on a 16th-century castle with updated rooms, and it has a moat, a dungeon, a chapel and gardens. Andrews lived on the site for the rest of his life, and one account says a state civil defense official called the dungeon the safest bomb shelter in Ohio. He died on April 16, 1981 and left the castle to his troop, the Knights of the Golden Trail, who have restored and finished it. A local story says Elvis Presley visited several times and offered to buy it, which is not documented. The Little Miami Scenic Trail runs beside it.

The Castle Built One River Rock at a Time

Harry Andrews wanted a castle, and nobody was going to build it for him. He hauled stone up from the Little Miami, one pail at a time, for the rest of his life, and taught the boys of his troop to call each other knights.

By the time he died in 1981 he had built towers, a moat and a dungeon. It is said that Elvis once offered to buy it.

Behind the legend

Andrews's dates, his service, the Knights of the Golden Trail, the river stones and milk-carton blocks, the 1981 bequest and the visiting hours are from Wikipedia, Roadside America, the castle's own site and Mental Floss. The Elvis story and the 'safest bomb shelter' quote are local tellings and are not documented. The starting date is given as 1927 and 1929.

If you go

Tour the castle, walk the river and pair it with a ride on the Little Miami Scenic Trail from Loveland.

Visiting

Status

Open; seasonal days

Managed by

The Knights of the Golden Trail

Hours

April through September, daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; October through March, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Admission

$5 per person; children 5 and under free (older listings give $3 for children).

Phone

513-683-4686

Please note

Self-guided tours; confirm hours before you go.

Address

12025 Shore Dr, Loveland, OH 45140

Official information →Directions Find trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.