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Fake Castles (page 3)

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Castle Hall
Walcott, IA
 Bovee Apartments [gone]
Waterloo, IA
Castle Hall was built in 1905. It was inspired by Balmoral Castle in Scotland. There was originally a pharmacy on the ground floor and a residence on the top floor. The building has been converted into apartments. For more, see this website. [map]

The Bovee Apartments were built in the early 1900s and owned by D.W. Bovee. The city acquired the property but could not find a buyer. After a couple of fires, the building was demolished in 2019.

Normandy Hunt Club [gone]
Sioux City, IA
The Normandy Hunt Club was built around 1931. It began housing the Normandy Restaurant in 1952. In later years, it housed the DeVinci Ristorante Italiano. It closed around 2012. In 2014, the building was ravaged by a fire and demolished.

Lake LaJune
Ida Grove, IA

Byron Originals
Ida Grove, IA

Ida County Courier
Ida Grove, IA

Courier Square
Ida Grove, IA

Skate Palace
Ida Grove, IA

Kastle Kones
Ida Grove, IA
 Medical Arts Building
Ida Grove, IA
 Lake LaJune Estates
Ida Grove, IA
Byron Godbersen is the man behind the castle craze of Ida Grove. The first castle-style building in town was constructed for his company, Midwest Industries. I believe that was built in the late 1960s. To demonstrate his products and conduct research, Godbersen created Lake LaJune in 1969. The entrance to the property is flanked by a castle-like tower and a mariner's wheel. In 1970, he added a half-scale replica of the HMS Bounty to the lake. [map]

I believe the Byron Originals building was built sometime in the 1970s. It is across the street from Godbersen's original building. Initially, Byron Originals produced large-scale remote controlled model airplanes. The company has now grown into a multi-purpose injection molding company and fuel producer for the modeling industry. [map]

In 1971, Godbersen was involved in several civic projects including a couple stone tower bridges. Soon thereafter, several commercial buildings carried the castle theme further.

The Ida County Courier building was constructed around 1975. It houses the newspaper's offices and production plant. [map]

The Courier Square mini-mall was built around 1975. [map]

The Skate Palace was built around 1982. It is now owned and operated by the American Legion. [map]

I don't know when the Kastle Kones stand was built. This photo is from 2009. By 2012, the building was housing Jim's Burger. The building began housing Brownie's Drive-in in 2018. [map]

The Medical Arts Building houses the Lewis Family Drug store and doctors and dentists offices. It was probably built in the 1980s. [map]

The Lake LaJune Estates, a residential development, was Godbersen last big project before he passed away in 2003. The photo above shows the entrance gate. The property includes Godbersen's own castle-style house. [map]

For more about the Ida Grove castles, see these websites: 1 and 2.

More Iowa:
Fifield Furniture (Red Oak) [map]
Kids' Kingdom (Rockwell City)

Castles (page 1) Castles (page 2) Castles (page 4) Castles (page 5) Castles (page 6) Castles (page 7)

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