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Castle I almost grew up in... that you might see! (Read 4443 times)
Steve Deckert
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Castle I almost grew up in... that you might see!
01/23/22 at 16:43:43
 

I can't help but wonder how my life would have changed if my dad had said 'yes' back in 1974 or so when he was offered the job of 'Director of operations' at Stronghold in Oregon IL situated along the Rock river.

I was looking on Google Maps last night for something and came across my favorite stomping grounds and the house we would have lived in had he taken the job.



click to zoom in


Just to the right of the large group of buildings, nestled in the woods was what almost became my childhood home.  The entire property was probably 100 acres in size.

It was owned by Walter Strong of the Chicago Newspaper.  When he died his wife donated the properly to the Presbyterian Church with the intension of it becoming a Christian retreat center which it did.  I went to summer camp there many times as a young adolescent.  My dad set up many of those retreats and being an artist also did a lot of folk-arts retreats which I helped out with.  It was kind of like a summer home that we got to spend a lot of time in every year as a result.  Needless to say it is dear to my heart with so many great memories I thought I would share it with you...

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Steve Deckert
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #1 - 01/23/22 at 16:50:45
 



Walter Strong who was good friends with William R. Hearst from California.  They went to Europe together and were so inspired by the castles there that they decided to build their own castles here in the states.  Mr. Hearst just purchased one over there and had it dismantled stone by stone, shipped to California and re-assembled (which I still find hard to believe).  This is the famous Hearst Castle you've all heard of.



Walter on the other hand decided to build his castle from natural limestone in the area where he lived in Northern Illinois. He called it Stronghold, go figure, and that is the large group of buildings you see in the first picture of this story.





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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #2 - 01/23/22 at 16:55:59
 
I used to race motorcycles just a couple of miles away from there right by White Pines park.

My wife and I Honeymooned in Polo. Damn that was 30 years ago in a couple of months.
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #3 - 01/23/22 at 16:57:40
 

So here are a series of pics of Stronghold.  A place where I spent my summers growing up and a place I hated to leave so much I just wanted to live there forever. : ).  And we came SO close, but my Dad said no to their offer and my dreams were crushed into the dirt.



click to enlarge


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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #4 - 01/23/22 at 16:59:44
 
Just FWIW Hurst had parts of his castle shipped from Europe, but Julia Morgan did the overall design and supervised the construction:

https://hearstcastle.org/history-behind-hearst-castle/historic-people/profiles/j...

She is a very interesting story in her own right.
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #5 - 01/23/22 at 17:01:36
 





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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #6 - 01/23/22 at 17:05:09
 



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #7 - 01/23/22 at 17:07:12
 





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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #8 - 01/23/22 at 17:10:25
 



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #9 - 01/23/22 at 17:13:57
 







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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #10 - 01/23/22 at 17:15:20
 



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #11 - 01/23/22 at 17:38:28
 



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #12 - 01/23/22 at 17:39:45
 

This is a great picture if you enlarge it.  The small stained glass window on the left building was a secret chapel.  To access it, there was a secret bookshelf in the library (the round part on the right of the picture)  that opened and you walked across the driveway up in the attic.



click to enlarge


There were in fact many secret passages in this place, many of which I secretly explored.  This is why learning how to use tools at a young age pays off.  There were underground tunnels as well from the castle to the house and from there to the river.

All I talk about In this forum is audio, so every now and then it's fun to just reminisce about stuff that has nothing to do with hi-fi. : )

Steve



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #13 - 01/24/22 at 04:24:16
 
I enjoy these glimpses into your formation. I thank you for sharing this.

Brian
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #14 - 01/24/22 at 07:55:14
 
I found castles always intriguing and mysterious. I bet you were crushed when your father decided to not take the offer. I can see where you have fond memories of time spent there. Looks wonderful.

I visited a castle just out of the depths of dead valley. Scotty Castle it is called. I will have to dig up some photos of that adventure into a castle that rises out of the desert into an oasis complete with an organ that the pipes take an entire separate structure to fit.

John
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #15 - 01/24/22 at 16:10:31
 

Crushed about covers it, yes.  

Walter Strong built it as a summer home for his family to get away from the city and let his kids discover nature.  The kids playroom was only accessible by a secret passageway. I can only imagine that Walter must have had a lot of fun arranging this for his kids. It was built to look old even when it was new, and never contained even a hint of opulence.  I suspect the residence in Chicago was opulent, while this was like a cottage in the woods.  Sadly he only got to spend one year together with his family in it before he died at age 47 of a heart attack which is devastating to think about when you see this wonderful creation he make for his family.  They continued to retreat there every summer for the next 20 some years or so without him.





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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #16 - 01/24/22 at 21:21:56
 
So I am surprised nobody did but, the question begs to be asked:
.
Why???
.
Why did your dad refuse this dream job???

Cheers,

a.
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #17 - 01/25/22 at 02:08:28
 

He had other goals I believe.  He was Presbyterian Minister climbing the ladder of bigger and bigger churches and I believe he liked it.  Probably saw this as anything but a dream job, or the money wasn't there.  He wouldn't tell us.

I thought he was out of his bloody mind at the time.  The place has an overwhelming powerful good vibe, and even the air smells different there.

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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #18 - 01/25/22 at 02:49:18
 

I may as well share one of the more humiliating stories that came from there...

When I turned 16 and could drive up there by myself, I got a summer job helping to set up a new place on the property so while I was there I had my own room set up in the castle and had full run of the place.  

One of the big things in the 1970's was CB radios, and I enjoyed the hobby mostly as someone who just listens to what's going on and occasionally striking up a conversation with someone if they are close enough.  Usually a mile or less away because I just had a hot-rodded walky-talky most of the time.  

I was told that tower at Stronghold is actually the highest point in the state of Illinois, (no idea if it's true) and I knew it had a nice antenna on top of it and there was a base station with a real microphone down in the office of the kitchen connected to it.  So one night I went in there and fired up the radio and it didn't take long to figure out I had some serious range.  Before too long I somehow got into a pissing match with someone on the air and said some belligerent things with some profanity which is as I was told at the time illegal.  Plus I didn't have a ham license which would make it a lot worse if you got caught.

Feeling drunk with power after dominating the air for a moment I decided to go for a walk around the property and smoke a cigarette just to make myself feel really tough.  I didn't really smoke at the time, but at that age you're pretty brain dead.

About 11 minutes into my walk, seconds after I lit the cigarette I was stunned to hear sirens on the property and they were coming right towards me and fast!  It was so impossible because this is private property few even know about, it's 11:30 at night, and even the entrance to the property is gated.

It could only be one thing.  They were coming to get me.  I almost shit my pants.  I ran down the road and dove into the woods and waited for them to go buy, which they did!  Heart firkin pounding I watched them pull up to the castle and go inside trying to find me.  It was just blowing my mind so hard I couldn't believe it!

Time to split.  I know places in the woods they'll never find me and off I ran.  After about 2 hours of not hearing anything I got curious enough to creep back to see if they were still there.  They were gone.  I went to my room and tried to sleep.  The following morning I discovered one of the staff had had a heart attack and had to be taken to the hospital.

Thank God I'm not still this stupid.  But this is what happens when you grow up in a Leave it to Beaver bubble where cigarettes, sex, rock'n roll and profanity will get you a special spot in hell.

Steve


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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #19 - 01/25/22 at 04:17:21
 
It is brave of you to share that. I am unwilling to tell any of mine.

"this is what happens when you grow up in a 'Leave it to Beaver bubble' where cigarettes, sex, rock'n roll and profanity will get you a special spot in hell."
Yep. I remember that.

Best wishes, Brian
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #20 - 01/25/22 at 04:33:42
 
Very interesting. I grew up in Illinois and have surveyed most of the rivers from St. Louis to Chicago to LaCrosse and never heard of that castle on the Rock River.  Looks beautiful.
BTW, the highest point in Illinois is Charles Mound, near the town of Scales Mound in the NW corner of the state.
Thanks for sharing.
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #21 - 01/25/22 at 08:20:01
 
That story resonated with me. I too am the son of a minister, and I too spent that age in a small town bubble under his shadow after being in a paradise of an African boarding school where everything made sense and I didn't have to misbehave as a result.

I've moved back into the same area forty plus years after having escaped it and I'm so glad I didn't stay here and assimilate and develop the backwards thinking I see around me more often than not. Now I can enjoy the beauty and the peace of the area, but it was no place for an adolescent or young man.
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #22 - 02/15/22 at 04:50:04
 

Lon,

I knew we had a deeper connection...  and agreed.  The bubble was a severe handicap until it finally popped.

Also explains our mutual appreciation for pipe organs!


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Reply #23 - 02/15/22 at 11:53:29
 
I see 1 hour tours are available at Stronghold. Indiana Dunes NP is new. One more innate attraction might convince Karen to do a road trip. I think Peoria is somewhere near Smiley Darn rabbit when down the hole again.

John
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #24 - 02/18/22 at 02:00:26
 

This special place is still on my mind for some reason and last night I woke up with an idea involving it that had me up for several hours.

BTW here is what it looks like now...


click to enlarge
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #25 - 02/18/22 at 02:04:00
 

Before the snow...



There are trails all over the property which I found out is bigger than I thought  -- over 300 acres.

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Reply #26 - 02/18/22 at 02:11:27
 




Really nice for chill out walks...  especially when it's not pitch black and you're not hearing sirens bearing down on you ; )

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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #27 - 02/18/22 at 02:16:24
 

This part here is called the carriage house.  It has several bedrooms and it's own kitchen.



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #28 - 02/18/22 at 02:45:07
 

So the idea that hit me in the middle of the night was to have DECFEST here in this castle!. We were at capacity last year, and had it not been for covid there would have been well over twice as many attendees and that would have been too many to realistically handle.  We need a place that is scalable.  We have 1 acre, we need up to 350 acres... like this property.

Imagine driving in on Friday, checking into this castle, finding a room in the castle for your stuff, and then having full run of this castle by ourselves for 2 days and nights.

I would set up 3 listening rooms that went day and night. There is a large kitchen behind this table so no way to miss breakfast, lunch or dinner, and no reason to leave the property.


click to enlarge


So as you look at the rest of these pictures, imagine having DECFEST here.  If it's meant to be perhaps our collective consciousness will make it happen.  I can promise you if it did, you would never forget the experience.



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #29 - 02/18/22 at 02:48:16
 
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #30 - 02/18/22 at 02:51:38
 


click to enlarge


This is the main entrance / front door in the center of the picture under the windows of the great hall.



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Reply #31 - 02/18/22 at 02:54:26
 


click to enlarge


Here is the front door as viewed from inside the entrance hall.



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #32 - 02/18/22 at 02:56:59
 
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Reply #33 - 02/18/22 at 02:58:43
 
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Reply #34 - 02/18/22 at 03:00:28
 
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Reply #35 - 02/18/22 at 03:03:17
 
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #36 - 02/18/22 at 03:08:44
 


click to enlarge


This is what it looks like in October.

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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #37 - 02/18/22 at 03:12:38
 


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Reply #38 - 02/18/22 at 03:13:59
 
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #39 - 02/18/22 at 03:15:18
 


images share

This nook overlooking the pool would be one of the three/four listening rooms.

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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #40 - 02/18/22 at 03:21:07
 

This would be the main gathering room, central to everything.  It has a piano and lots of room.


images share



It's too big for a listening room due to the echo, but perfect for hanging out, and actually the piano sounds pretty decent in there.  It's like a natural reverb.  This would become the nucleus of the fest.  And for the first time we wouldn't have to worry about rain.  When you're not in one o the listening rooms, or out for a walk or in the dining room eating or in your bedroom, you are here relaxing with everyone else.





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Reply #41 - 02/18/22 at 03:23:51
 

Here is the secret chapel hidden behind the library bookshelf secret door.   Sorry I didn't take these miserable pictures, but it's all we have right now.


images share

The 4th listening room.  





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Reply #42 - 02/18/22 at 03:28:39
 

The library, a perfect place for a headphone listening room is where you find access to the chapel.


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God bless the hinges on that bookcase, because it has to have been opened at least 400,000 times since I played with it as a kid. I know the front door on my house can't do that.

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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #43 - 02/18/22 at 03:38:23
 


So you have a few people chilling out at the table here having a Decware and ZMF headphone experience while Randy conducts his Betsy Baffle magic in the secret chapel.  This is the passageway behind the bookshelf leading to it.



So as you can well imagine, in a castle there is a lot of room to spread out, yet this place isn't too big so it remains very cozy.  Especially when you have no choice but to become family in the dormitory type sleeping arrangements and you all eat together during your stay.





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Reply #44 - 02/18/22 at 03:43:36
 



This is that magic place where people bump into each other in the night trying to remember how to get to a particular room... I'm just imaging some of the Decfest regulars in combination with some good beer trying to find the matrix channel and getting lost around this point.  Also it is about the time I imagine someone getting the idea to hook up a radial speaker in the center of the tower floor to see what it sounds like at 3:00 A.M.










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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #45 - 02/18/22 at 03:44:52
 
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #46 - 02/18/22 at 03:46:12
 
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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #47 - 02/18/22 at 03:49:29
 


images share


Here is a picture of the lodge that is walking distance to the castle.  It has modern, more private accommodations.





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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #48 - 02/18/22 at 03:57:23
 



I can see it happening but do not know yet how far in advance (years?) it would have to be booked, or what dates would be available but I think it's well worth looking into if there would be an interest in such an adventure.  

The cost wouldn't be any different than going to Axpona or any other audio show.  I'm just wondering if you think it would be more fun to check out all the industries audio gear at some hotel, or get drunk in a castle for two days and nights listening to Decware gear?



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Re: The Castle I almost grew up in.
Reply #49 - 02/18/22 at 04:00:10
 
In the castle with Decware gets my vote!!   I thought for a minute there you were contemplating buying the castle, Steve!!!
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