12 Most Fascinating Castles in Ohio

© Courtesy of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Traveling through Ohio, visitors find a surprising number of spectacular castles that look like they came from a different century and continent. Some Ohio castles are original and were built a century or more ago, such as the Piatt Castles. Others are new, inspired by the elegance and romance of old castles like the Loveland Castle Museum. Here are the best castles in Ohio.

© Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron, Ohio was completed in 1915 as a home for Frank Seiberling and his growing family. Frank Seiberling was one of the cofounders of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber company. The estate is one of the most significant examples of the American Country Estate movement, popular during the Industrial Age. The manor house and service buildings were designed in the Tudor revival style, inspired by English estates.

The Stan Hywet quickly became a place where Seiberlings met with their friends to discuss contemporary issues. Many well-known personalities and artists were guests in the manor. After their parents' death, Seiberling's children decided to gift Stan Hywet to the Akron community in 1957. A popular Akron landmark, Stan Hywet is one of America's largest homes open to the public. It is an accredited museum and offers tours of home's original furnishings and art collections.

714 North Portage Path, Akron OH 44303, Phone: 330-836-5533

© Ravenwood Castle

Located about nine miles from Hocking Hills, Ravenwood Castle was designed to resemble castles built in the 12th and 13th centuries on the border between England and Wales. The castle was completed in 1995 and was planned as a medieval-themed hotel, with added "medie val village," a group of rustic cottages nearby.

The hotel's rooms are decorated in the same style with fireplaces, fake stonewalls, antique furniture, dungeons, and modern features like whirlpool tubs and kitchenettes. There are seven luxury rooms in the castle and a number of cabins, cottages, and "gypsy wagons." Guests have breakfast in the great hall and can savor a beer in the castle's pub.

65666 Bethel Rd, New Plymouth, OH 45654, Phone: 740-596-2606

© Landoll's Mohican Castle

Located in the heart of Mohican country about four miles from Mohican State Park, Landoll's Mohican Castle is an opulent, luxurious hotel designed to look like an Old World castle that opened in 2002. The castle has eleven unique suites, with an additional four suites in the Highlands Building and two cottages located nearby.

The elegant suites have European-style decor, whirlpool tubs, microwaves, gas fireplaces, fridges, cable TV, and wet bars. Some suites have garden access, four-poster beds, and private balconies. The hotel has an indoor pool, and the castle's restaurant, The Copper Mug Bar & Grille, has a lovely outdoor deck. Guests can enjoy carriage rides through the forest. Ghost tours and murder mystery diners are popular hotel events.

561 Township Road 3352, Loudonville, OH 44842, Phone: 419-994-3427

© ColumbusGov/Facebook

Schwartz Castle is a quirky Columbus landmark located in the German Village neighborhood. Its windowed turret is visible for miles around. The house was built of red brick to look like an Old World European castle by the German immigrant Frederick William Schwartz in the mid-1800's. Schwartz was a pharmacist with a successful shop on Main Street.

He built the castle as a home for him and his future wife, who broke off the engagement and sent Schwartz into insanity. As the legend goes, he built secret passageways through the house, five stories of basement, drank only rainwater, and sunbathed nude on the tower roof. His ghost is one of many that are alleged to visit the castle, which has been turned into an apartment building.

492 S 3rd St, Columbus, OH 43215-5702

© Piatt Castles

Snuggled in the lovely countryside of Logan County, Ohio near the Shawnee village of Mackachack are two massive Gothic castles built in the 1860s and 1870s by two Piatt brothers who grew up in the area. Called Mac-A-Cheek and Mac-O-Chee, the castles have become a private museum that celebrates 200 years of Ohio history.

The castles have three stories, towers, painted ceilings, and intricate woodwork. The Piatt family still owns and manages the castles and started opening them for tours in 1912. Today, they are popular sites for concerts, weddings, receptions, camps, historical reenactments, and other special events.

10051 Township Rd 47, West Liberty, OH 43357, Phone: 937-465-2821

© Loveland Castle Museum

Château Laroche or the Loveland Castle is located on the banks of the Little Miami River near Loveland, Ohio. Designed to resemble historical European castles, its construction began in 1929 by Harry D. Andrews, a Boy Scout troop leader, a medievalist, and a World War I veteran. Andrews worked on the castle for more than 50 years, bringing stones from the Little Miami River, adding bricks, cement, and quart milk cartons mix when he ran out of stones.

Andrews willed the castle to his Boy Scout troop known as the Knights of the Golden Trail, whose members continued to upgrade and renovate it and opened it to the public as a museum. The east tower offers a short video presentation on Andrews' life. There is a chapel upstairs that has a wall built of stones Andrews brought from his travels or that his friends and followers sent to him.

12025 Shore Rd, Loveland, OH 45140, Phone: 513-683-4686

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© GreatStone Castle Resorts

Located only a 10-minute walk from the Sidney Courthouse Square Historic District and the Historic Sidney Theatre, the GreatStone Castle is a Sidney and Ohio landmark. It is one hundred years old, and this magnificent mansion is made of beautiful golden Indiana limestone. It boasts walls that are nearly 18 inches thick, stately stone columns, and three turrets, making for the ideal look of an old castle.

The castle also has a large wrap-around porch and a spacious circular driveway shaded by a one hundred-year-old oak, promising a warm welcome. Two acres of manicured lawns and gardens surround the castle, and its interior is modernized to offer guests of this bed and breakfast full comfort amongst old world elegance. Ornate fireplaces and fine hardwood floors go well together with free Wi-Fi and cable TV.

429 N Ohio Ave, Sidney, OH 45365, Phone: 937-498-4728

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© Franklin Castle

According to some, Franklin Castle is considered the Most Haunted House in Ohio. This fascinating historical house designed in Queen Anne style, located in Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland was built in 1881 for German immigrant Hannes Tiedemann. He added a ballroom on the fourth floor of the home and gargoyles and turrets to the facade, making the house look even more like a castle.

Tiedemann's four children and mother died shortly after moving into the house, creating a legend of strange happenings, crimes, and ghosts in the house. The house has changed hands many times since then, and for one reason or another, all owners gave up on their plans of renovating it and moved out, abandoning their investments. The house was even exorcised by a ghost-hunting group, the Northeast Ohio Psychical Research Society.

4308 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH

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© The Castle Inn

When Samuel Ruggles built his castle in 1895, he was inspired by a number of European castles he visited. One of the first things visitors see when they come to the Castle Inn is the magnificent piece of stained glass at the end of the stairway. Besides many lovely stained glass windows, the castle has other fine Old World details such as a bathroom with rose marble walls, intricate walnut furniture, and marble fixtures in one of the rooms in the tower.

The castle that Mr. Riggs built is now a charming bed and breakfast located in Circleville, Ohio about a half hour drive from downtown Columbus. While many antique furniture pieces and details remaining, the rooms in the castle are thoroughly modernized and have luxuries such as fireplaces, heart-shaped or oval Jacuzzis, private dining rooms, and sitting areas. Complimentary hot breakfast in the morning is offered to all guests. The Castle Inn is famous for their Murder Mystery nights with guests as characters.

610 S Court St, Circleville, OH 43113, Phone: 740-412-2472

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© Glamorgan Castle

William Henry Morgan, the son of a European immigrant from Whales built Glamorgan Castle in Alliance, Ohio. William began construction of his new home in 1904 and sent his architect Willard Hirsh to Europe to study castles and methods of construction to ensure that his home on 50 acres would be on a truly grand European scale.

The castle walls are 13 inches thick and are made of Vermont marble, creating the look of solid, impenetrable old castles. Although a true a Renaissance man, William added many modern features such as a billiard room, a bowling alley, and a big indoor swimming pool. The Alliance City Schools purchased the castle in 1973, and today it serves as the central administrative office for the school district.

200 Glamorgan St, Alliance, OH 44601,Phone: 330-821-2100

© Marietta Castle

Marietta Castle was built in 1855 on top of the hill above what is today's Marietta's Historic District by Melvin C. Clarke, a prominent local attorney and abolitionist, as a home for his family. The castle's octagonal tower, stone capped spires, and trefoil attic window make it a great example of Gothic Revival architecture.

A number of people have made it their home throughout history, and the last owner, Stewart Bosley, deeded it to the Betsey Mills Corporation "as an historical asset for the City of Marietta with such asset to be used for educational and public purposes." The castle is now open to the public and serves as a venue for concerts, social events and celebrations. It is registered on the National Register of Historic Places.

418 4th St, Marietta, OH 45750, 740-373-4180

© Courtesy of Michael Shake - Fotolia.com

Squire's Castle is a picturesque ruin of a castle set in Willoughby Hills in the North Chagrin Reservation. It was completed by Feargus B. Squire in the 1890s as the future gatekeeper's house – he was planning to build a large country estate on the land but never fulfilled his dream. Squire, who worked for the Standard Oil Compan, sold the castle and the surrounding 525 acres in 1922 to the Cleveland Metroparks.

The Squire's Castle is open to the public today but is seriously deteriorating. The Willoughby Hills Public Library holds a history seminar in the castle every year. The park around it has a footpath, cooking grills, a large grassy field, and a riding trail. The legend about the ghost of Squire's wife attracts many curious visitors.

River Road, Willoughby Hills, OH

© Brumback Library Castle

John Sanford Brumback, businessman, banker, and philanthropist, decided to assist twelve Van Wert women who wanted to establish a library for local residents. The 1,400-book library was established as a free city library in 1896, and Mr. Brumback offered to finance it, believing that all residents should have access to free books. He ordered plans for the construction of a County Library but died before it could be completed.

His family honored his wishes and completed the construction of the library in 1901. The architecture is a mix of Gothic and Romanesque style, with turreted towers and a Ludowici tile roof, creating a castle-like look. The castle is surrounded by the trees in the park, just as John Sanford Brumback requested, and the library is today an important part of Van Wert social and cultural life.

215 W Main St, Van Wert, OH 45891, 419-238-2168