LOL!
,/p>Posted on 07/31/2020 3:44:37 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
One of the things people start thinking about once they’ve become mature and individual adults is how to get their life together on top of all of the worldly things like getting and maintaining a job, creating a family, and whatnot.
Among the many things in this list is also one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make in your life, and that is getting a flat or a house. After all, once you commit to it, it’s something you’re gonna have to live with for anywhere between 5 and 40 years.
But if you’re gonna commit that much, why not skip the whole small-fry real estate and go straight to buying a castle?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, buying castles are a thing. And there’s one currently for sale.
This is the Helmer Castle, aptly named after its original owner Max Helmer, who was a reclusive and eccentric concert violinist and son of a well-off Jackson County banker of the 20th century. The castle was built in 1927 by C.J. Jorgensen at 7300 Draper Road, Jackson, Michigan. And it’s surprising what you can do with 500 tons of fieldstone, 300 barrels of cement, nine workers, a horse, and a crane from 1927.
The Castle’s origins are traced back to Max Helmer’s love of medieval castles. Helmer was touring through Europe and had a chance to visit some of the castles there. After returning, he designed a home for himself based on a 5th century Roman hall that can be found near Nuremberg, Germany.
The medieval-styled building has been modernized since then, with some of the interior furniture and tech being of a more contemporary style and there now being a spacious garage to the side of the castle, everything else seems authentically medieval.
The 2,000 square feet Helmer’s Castle features a 60-foot tower with a spiral staircase, a number of fireplaces, shake-style metal roofing, hardwood floors, as well as a half-mile driveway leading up to it. As for the living spaces, it has 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen and dining area, expansive living and great room, and a walkout master suite, among many other things.
The luxury doesn’t stop here as there’s also a lighted basketball court outside, 3 separate patios, as well as a number of scenic walking, running, sledding, and exploring trails, all spread across a 20 acre bit of land.
As of the moment of this article, the castle is going for $529,000 US dollars. The real estate ad suggests that it can be used for a number of functions, serving as a single family home, vacation home or rental, wedding venue, private multi-use retreat venue, or a new single-family home community. This is besides all of the immersive D&D campaigns that you can host inside.
Sources also state that this very castle was a filming location for the 1977 low-budget horror movie “The Demon Lover”, which told the story of a group of teenagers hanging around a cemetery and getting involved with a satanic priest who calls up a demon from hell. Don’t worry, the castle isn’t haunted or cursed, though some might find it a bit ominous given its aesthetic and the fact that there were rumors of Helmer being murdered here, but in reality he died of a heart attack.
The castle’s current owners, the Klenk family who have been living here since 1982, have spent their 36 years redoing the castle to make it more homely. They have done their best to make sure any renovations that they did fit Max Helmer’s original design, this way mashing the old and new styles into what they called “modern medieval.” Two years ago, they put the castle up for sale.
If you want more castle goodness, Bored Panda has a number of castle-related articles, including this one about the smallest castle in England (which was incidentally also for sale some time ago), and also another castle in Spain that you can rent via AirBnB.
I could this, it’s going for less than my place in Vegas would go for. I’m sure the weather sucks but I could deal. Can’t stand their governor, though. But right now I have the stupidest governor that ever existed (thank you fleeing Californians and foreign workers). Al in all a wash and damn that’s a cool looking place to survive the apocalypse in...
I have longed to pour boiling oil on my political enemies.
It was listed 9/24/2017 at $649,000. It has been on and off the
market five times. The current listing is now $529,000. They
changed real estate agents for this listing. I guess they decided
it was time for a change.
Sounds very cheap. What is bordering that 20 acres?
I know in Grosse Point it’s the projects.
Drove up there a few years back.
One block 2 million dollar homes. Very next block very poorest of the projects only with a small wall separating and blood and crips walking around with pants to their knees.
If someone is offering that building and 20 acres for $529k, I’d run a title search before doing anything more.
Gators in Michigan??
“Very Cool...So when the kids misbehave, you send them to the tower? That’ll scare the sh** out of them.”
That tower looks like a lot of fun. It needs a dungeon.
I like the VHF/UHF antenna on top of the tower. They must get great reception.
The Pontiac Silverdome sold for less than that.
I’m worried about the heating bills...
.....
You should be. It’s Michigan.
Snapping turtles are territorial. You could probably only have one or two in your mote.
On the other hand, keeping a saltwater mote habitable in Michigan would be a full-time job.
But labors of love are so very rewarding and who wouldn’t love Ill-tempered mutant sea bass.
No elevator, but 66 steps on a Spiral Staircase to get to the Fifth floor of the tower. The Sixth floor is an outside stairway only - but it has lawn chairs up there...to rest and enjoy the view if you make it, LOL!
It’s more of a folly than a castle.
Exactly what I was thinking!
We’re pretty well situated where we are, however, our North Flank needs some shoring up - we have great sight lines S, E & W but that Northern flank is nothing but trees...and I don’t want to cut them down (wind break) so mines it is!
Problem solved. Thanks! ;)
LOL!
,/p>“Gators in Michigan??”
And why not.... a little selective breeding and they’d be some bad mofos.
‘As You Wish.’
*HEART*
P.S. I would’ve left my house, my home, my kids, my family, my country if Wesley/Dread Pirate Roberts had only asked.
*SIGH*
I’m totally hooked on a show called, ‘Sell This House’ where they go in and paint, upgrade and stage homes for sale that have been on the market too long.
They. Work. Miracles. ;)
Not thinking ahead...They’ll turn it into a den of....I don’t even want to think about it.
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