The Dwarf Castle, Alpharetta, Georgia

Travel 1 Minute

From the Atlas Obscura website:

Not many, besides fairy tale Princesses, get to live in a castle and you certainly don’t find many castles in this affluent exurb of northern Georgia. But one truck driver decided to change that.

According to the county, the house was begun in 1950 and was built by Rudy and Ruth McLaughlin. Rudy was a long-haul truck driver who told his wife he would build her a castle – and did! It was heavy work – mortar and concrete for the roof was lifted in five-gallon buckets.

The home is surrounded by a wrought iron fence and features gnomes – though some call them dwarfs and hence the name – guarding the lawn. A swimming pool surrounding the castle doubles as a moat. The two-bedroom house is a little over 1400 square feet and has two garages. The garages are only accessible via a drawbridge.

As this is a private home, it is not open for tours–but it is still quite a curiosity to behold from the road.

Know Before You Go

The best place to park is off Summerhill Drive at the neighborhood pool parking lot. You can then walk down to the right to get a closer look.

SOURCE: ATLASOBSCURA

Unknown's avatar

Published by pat frederick

Published

108 thoughts on “The Dwarf Castle, Alpharetta, Georgia”

  2. Morning All! still only 50* here and we’re seeing peeks of sunshine but mainly cloudy again. there was what i thought was a dead turkey laying next to the one tree out front, but then she moved. she was trying to dust herself in the small area of dirt around the tree. it’s been such a wet spring there really are no dirt spots in the yard–and what grass-less spots are there are too wet, not quite mud, but not the dust she needs either.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! Cute castle but I think I’d get tired of living with all that attention. I woke up to 73 and really humid, with darkening skies to the west, thin clouds overhead, and somewhat less threatening clouds in the distance to the east. Slight chance of hail & wind later today altho they have moved the line of possible severe storms more to the east into IA, thankfully. I finally had to turn on the a/c late yesterday with higher humidity and almost no wind. When it hit 90 inside, I said enough – it kicked on right away, which was a relief. I live with the constant fear that one of these old systems is going to go kaput and I can’t afford to replace them. Both the furnace and the a/c are probably at least 20 years old.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Filly!
        well our sun came out–but it’s hazy sun–clouds everywhere. hubby says next week should be hot for us. i just checked–the temp is 55*. so we’re pretty cool here.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. The rain has begun now – I took the feeders and hanging plants down, brought in another few plants that could break in the wind. So far, the wind isn’t bad, just a breeze but I’m ready….altho the Orioles aren’t too pleased at the moment! LOL

          Liked by 1 person

          1. LOL
            boy that ONE female oriole must be a teenager…lol
            she lands on the railing next to the jelly feeder then instead of eating she flies to the hummer feeder on the front of the house. when i chase her off–she flies to the jelly and eats…lol

            Liked by 1 person

  7. katharine? i found this at the conservative treehouse…a comment about the Idaho water

    DanDan

    DanDan

    June 12, 2024 5:56 am

    Reply to  sunnydaze

    ICYMI – FYI – WTF – Trust No One – ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    Idaho doesn’t have a water problem; it has a management problem.

    This year, the system has seen an 850,000-acre-foot increase in water flowing into the river from the aquifer, 300,000+ acre-feet in aquifer recharge, a 400-500 cubic-feet-per-second increase in flows at Thousand Springs, 102% of average water above Heise, reservoirs filling before water is released to prevent flooding, and a 600,000+ acre-foot water dump over Milner Dam due to excess. 

    Idaho has plenty of water, as evidenced by the average annual dumping of over 1 million acre-feet out of the system over the past 25 years.

    Over the last several months, our reservoir system has completely filled, over 200 billion gallons of water have been released to prevent flooding and our rivers have swollen beyond their banks. Our snowpack is above average; we have good soil moisture; and we have enjoyed a cool spring.

    Yet the department, using a process intentionally designed to overestimate shortfalls, declared last month that one canal in the Magic Valley may experience a 74,100-acre-foot shortfall this year. In order to avoid that possibility, the director is shutting off approximately 1 million acre-feet of irrigation. This despite the fact that the canal in question loses 660,000 acre-feet per year to inefficiencies, according to department calculations. 

    Yesterday afternoon, the department cynically painted groundwater users as unwilling to “take action to avoid curtailment,” but this portrayal is blatantly false. From 2016 through 2022 groundwater pumpers, on average, conserved (through pumping reductions and aquifer recharge) over 312,000 acre-feet of water annually — much more than was required under the 2015 settlement agreement between canal and groundwater users. 

    Groundwater users have offered, several times, to pay to modernize the Twin Falls Canal, but that offer has been repeatedly rejected. About five months ago, our groundwater district submitted a robust mitigation plan to the department that included aggressive reduction in groundwater-irrigated acreage, ambitious investments in system improvements, and other activities. Other groundwater districts also submitted mitigation plans to the department, but the director has ignored each one, refusing to even set a hearing date for them.

    .
    This is mismanagement, not a shortage.

    .
    https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article288910932.html

    https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article289046094.html

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Liked by 1 person

  9. Patience

    June 12, 2024 1:32 am

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump

    Corrupt Soros backed Manhattan D.A, Alvin Bragg, at the direction of Crooked Joe Biden and his DOJ, has always known that there was NO CRIME in the Case he filed against me.

    He didn’t even want to bring this “Zombie Case,” but when forced to attack me for Election Interference purposes, Bragg attempted to make it look as bad as possible by “stacking the counts”
    – A TOTAL SCAM.

    The reality is that the whole Hoax is just about Legal Expenses being paid and marked as….Legal Expenses.

    Instead,
    the Prosecutors made up 34 counts
    out of
    11 Checks,
    11 Invoices,
    and
    12 Entries

    by a highly respected bookkeeper
    in a Ledger.

    Even the Invoices said, “Legal Retainer.”
    Why?

    Because that’s what it was,
    a payment to
    a then-fully accredited lawyer.

    Nothing illegal,
    no “conspiracies.”

    THE APPELLATE COURTS HAVE TO END THIS WITCH HUNT AGAINST A POLITICAL OPPONENT!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. California Joe

    California Joe

    June 12, 2024 1:40 am

    Tucker Carlson interviews Steve Bannon on his conviction for Contempt of Congress and four month prison sentence. Bannon is being sent to prison by a Trump appointed federal judge.

    Bannon explains that Democrats today in Washington DC are Neo-Marxists who play smash-mouth hard ball. They want to send President Trump to prison for a hundred years,l and bankrupted Rudy Guiliani and took away his law license. Meanwhile, Republicans are afraid of their own shadow.

    FBI Attorney Clinesmith altered evidence in a search warrant in order to frame President Trump for a crime that never even happened and pleaded guilty to a federal felony yet Democrat Judge Boasberg sentenced Clinesmith to probation and he kept his law licence.

    https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1800649304236859620

    Liked by 1 person

  12. nope. i put this on the same level as hunter’s gun conviction. all show. they need to draw attention away from the bribery and money laundering crimes of his father, so they have a show trial and find him guilty–see we’re doing it fairly they’ll say.
    the fib is under attack for being a partisan hit squad, rooting out conservative agents and not solving major crimes–so they foil a “terrorist” plot–that their president let stroll right in. lights and mirrors…that’s all it is.
    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/06/it_has_started_fbi_busts_tajik_illegal_alien_terror_ring_plotting_an_isis_style_boston_marathon_like_attack.html

    Liked by 1 person

  15. National Pulse, William Upton, Wednesday, June 12, 2024

    “Trump in D.C. on Thursday for GOP Conflab”

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Former President Donald J. Trump will return to Washington, D.C., on Thursday, where he will address Republican members of the U.S. House and Senate on Capitol Hill. In the morning, the former Republican president will meet with House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club, with senior aides and Republican Conference members invited to attend. The event hosts include Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY).

    Later on Thursday, Trump will address Republican Senators at the invitation of Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-WY). “I’ve invited President Trump to meet with members of our Republican Conference,” the Wyoming Republican wrote to his colleagues on Tuesday. He added: “I believe it will be helpful to hear directly from President Trump about his plans for the summer and to also share our ideas for a strategic governing agenda in 2025.” The meeting will likely occur Thursday afternoon at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) office just a few blocks from the Capitol.

    The Washington, D.C. meetings with Republican lawmakers come as the 2024 presidential campaign cycle hits full swing. Campaign strategy and election resource management are expected to be among the discussion topics. Almost all of the House Republican Conference has already lined up behind Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Meanwhile, there remain a few hold-outs in the Senate, though Republican leadership—including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)—has already endorsed Trump for president.”

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Just The News: “Congressman Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on Tuesday called for accountability for government officials who signed a letter claiming first son Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation.”

    “At some point, somebody’s got to hold them accountable,” Burchett said on the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “I would like to know the chain of command. I would like to know who each and every one of them talked to. I would like to know what notes they were looking at. I’d like to know who had their ear during all of this. And if they actually viewed the laptop.”

    In 2020, 51 officials signed a letter saying that Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” was Russian disinformation. The infamous laptop story that was originally perceived by media outlets as “Russian disinformation” was resurrected during Hunter’s gun trial.

    FBI Agent Erika Jensen testified in the trial that the laptop was real, according to NBC News. She said that information on the laptop contained evidence about the gun purchase.

    “This is a serious matter that was used for election interference,” Burchett said. “And this is clearly another case of that and it’s happened time and time again.” He added that the “big boys” need to be “called into question.”

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Just The News: “A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday stopped the Biden administration’s new Title IX protections, which were expanded to protect transgender students, claiming the government failed to “adhere to the appropriate notice and comments requirements,” when it announced the rules.

    The new rule, which protects students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, was unveiled in April, and was meant to take effect in August. But it has faced lawsuits by several GOP-led states, including Texas and Florida. Texas’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton first attempted to block the Title IX guidelines last year, after the rules were proposed,  according to The Hill.

    District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the new guidelines violated federal law, because the administration cannot “impose conditions on a state’s educational institutions by purporting to interpret Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments.” 

    “The Court concludes that Defendants cannot regulate state educational institutions in this way without violating federal law,” O’Connor wrote in a 112-page opinion. “Accordingly, the Court holds that Defendants engaged in unlawful agency action taken in excess of their authority, all while failing to adhere to the appropriate notice and comments requirements when doing so.”

    Paxton praised the ruling in a statement, claiming the ruling helped protect biological women, because the guidelines would have forced public schools to allow transgender women to use the same bathrooms and locker rooms as biological women. 

    “Joe Biden’s unlawful effort to weaponize Title IX for his extremist agenda has been stopped in its tracks,” Paxton said in a statement. “Threatening to withhold education funding by forcing states to accept ‘transgender’ policies that put women in danger was plainly illegal. Texas has prevailed on behalf of the entire Nation.”

    O’Connor has made other controversial rulings in the past, including one stating that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional in 2018. The judge was nominated to the federal bench by former President George W. Bush.”

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Just The News: “A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday struck down the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which also imposed restrictions for some adults, touting the law as “unconstitutional” because it discriminated against transgender people.

    The controversial law was passed in the state and signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023. It barred medical professionals from administering gender-affirming care to minors, including treatments like puberty blockers and hormones. Florida medical boards embraced rules barring doctors from performing gender surgeries on minors or prescribing hormone treatments for them in 2022.

    U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle temporarily blocked the law last year, but made the block permanent in a 105-page ruling. on Tuesday. A spokesperson for DeSantis said the state would be appealing the ruling, The Hill reported.

    “Florida has adopted a statute and rules that ban gender-affirming care for minors even when medically appropriate,” Hinkle wrote in his decision. “The ban is unconstitutional.” 

    Hinkle claimed the law was motivated by an “anti-transgender animus” from state lawmakers, and that the report from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration was “deeply flawed,” and “bias-driven.” 

    “Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs. But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender,” Hinkle wrote. “In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice … In the meantime, the federal courts have a role to play in upholding the Constitution and laws.”

    Hinkle has also struck down Florida’s Medicaid policy that excludes coverage for gender-affirming health care, which the state will also appeal. 

    Transgender advocates celebrated the victory, which came during national LGBTQ pride month. 

    “The federal court saw Florida’s transgender minor healthcare ban and adult restrictions for what they are—discriminatory measures that cannot survive constitutional review,” Simone Criss, director of the Southern Legal Counsel’s transgender rights initiative, said.

    At least 24 other states have adopted laws that either restrict or ban gender-affirming medical care for minors, and before Florida, only the law in Arkansas has been struck down, according to the Associated Press.”

    Liked by 1 person

  20. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/11/trump-project-2025-wrecking-ball

    Our Take: Project 2025 would ‘take a wrecking ball to America’s democratic norms and institutions,’ claim Democrats … after taking a wrecking ball to America’s democratic norms and institutions.

    Just when you think we’ve hit peak gaslight.

    Back in reality, the Republic is suffering a crisis of public trust, and the only way to restore public trust is with accountability. Uniparty Democrats and Republicans have abused and corrupted the institutions to such an extent that salvaging the institutions is an ambitious goal, and Project 2025 is a necessity.

    It’s obvious that the ruling elite fear accountability for their decision-making, its intentions, and its outcomes. They should. The people that brought us to the point of needing ‘a great reset,’ — the people that, in short order, have brought about global war — those people do not get another at-bat.

    Accountability is a requirement for any serious effort to restore the Republic. And accountability is coming.” — Ashe in America

    Liked by 1 person

  21. https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-us-weapons-azov-a3a555670bedeae2022900621d79aba7

    The U.S. has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defense of the major port city of Mariupol, the State Department said on Tuesday.

    The Azov Brigade is among Ukraine’s most effective and popular fighting units but it has been dogged by its origins as a volunteer battalion that drew fighters from far-right circles and criticism for some of its tactics. The U.S. had banned the regiment from using American weapons, citing the neo-Nazi ideology of some of its founders.

    The current members of the Azov Brigade, which has been absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard as the 12th Special Forces Brigade, reject accusations of extremism and any ties with far-right movements. But the Kremlin has seized on the regiment’s origins in its efforts to cast Russia’s invasion as a battle against Nazi influence in Ukraine.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow took an “extremely negative” view of Washington’s decision. He described Azov as an “ultranationalist armed formation” and accused U.S. authorities of being “ready to flirt with neo-Nazis.” — AP News

    Liked by 1 person

  22. OK….wouldn’t ya’ know?!?! I put the jelly and WP feeders back up, take a few plants out of the garage….and now we’ve got a downpour with small hail. Temp has dropped to 71 and it feels downright chilly with the wind, which has reversed itself from NW to SE….

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Well, that didn’t last long! Thankfully, the hail was really tiny. Forecast now is for clearing, wind and temps rapidly rising to 93 (weather.com says 96) by 6 pm!

      Liked by 1 person

  26. VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) — An 81-year-old woman on Martha’s Vineyard drove up to the Island Time dispensary last week seeking her usual order of pot. But owner Geoff Rose had to tell her the cupboard was bare — he’d been forced to temporarily close three weeks earlier after selling every last bud and gummy. Unless something changes, the island’s only other cannabis dispensary will sell all its remaining supplies by September at the latest, and Martha’s Vineyard will run out of pot entirely, affecting more than 230 registered medical users and thousands more recreational ones.

    I find this humorous personally because two very good friends of mine – one of whom may now be a selectman or whatever the fuck they call ’em up there – were the two biggest pot dealers on that island for at least ten years back in the 70’s-80’s. Find the full article here.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hope all is well with her. The storm has moved thru, sun is shining and the wind has picked up; temp is up to 76. The Orioles are sooo funny any time I have to take the feeder down, even if it’s only for 5-10 minutes. They flutter around in a panic, looking and looking, before finally settling wherever they settle in the trees. Once I put it back out, they act like they’ve been starved for days! I counted 5 actually on the feeder with 2-3 fluttering around, waiting their turn. Plus 2 finches! And the Blue Jays have figured out how to land on the WP block!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. she is fine, thanks!
        i watch our orioles at the feeder–as they’re pecking at the jelly, they’re glancing around and around. then they fly off–within seconds. the hummers land and can spend more than a minute or two sitting there and drinking.
        the orioles are flash and dash…the hummers are set a spell kind of diners

        Liked by 1 person

  29. mass psychosis

    June 12, 2024 12:25 pm

    Three years later, I am proven CORRECT about South Dakota’s largest county – thanks to the actions of a bold auditor and grassroots patriots:

     A press release in Minnehaha County has confirmed what we have long suspected. Data from the 2020 election does not reconcile including 24,500 missing ballots. Vote returns appear anomalous with major discrepancies between in person and absentee. Leah Anderson, Minnehaha County Auditor has announced she will do a 100% hand count audit of the 2024 primary election. Stay tuned for updates!

    –SK

    HUGE NEWS in Minnehaha County

    https://open.substack.com/pub/southdakotacanvassinggroup/p/huge-news-in-minnehaha-county?r=1tsbt6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Liked by 1 person

  30. JackT

    June 12, 2024 10:45 am

     Independent nonpartisan research groups such as United Sovereign Americans have sprung up across the country and are finding millions of illegal entries in state voter databases that facilitate voting manipulation.  Here is a tiny sample of their findings.

    • Florida: 270,804 incomplete addresses; 11,819 instances where 10 to 15 people are reported to be living at a single home; 10,988 cases where 6 to 80 people are living at a single apartment or vacant lot
    • Illinois: 219,046 voters with incomplete addresses
    • New York: 48,784 voters with blank addresses
    • Texas: 166,983 duplicate registrations; 74,202 invalid addresses; 10,092 voters with a P.O. box listed as their address

    There is so much money at stake that the attraction of manipulating voter rolls is understandable.  Create fake voters with fake addresses, mail them ballots, and fill them out for your candidate — by the thousands!

    Liked by 1 person

  34. we were just out feeding the fish–see what’s alive the pond. we have lots of fish this year. several large striped ones and loads of big and small sunys. there are babies–can’t tell yet what they are. frogs and toads abound and newts too. and dragonflies–lots of those too.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That’s one benefit of all your foul weather! Plenty of rain. We’ve got more storms predicted for next week, too! 5-6 chances of rain in the next 10 days! It’s up to 87 outside now and I’ve closed up, with my a/c set at 83 – it’s 79 inside in the hallway but underneath the light on my table next to me, it’s 81. I need to put a cool-burning bulb in it.

      Liked by 1 person

  36. Liked by 1 person

  38. NF: And they think now they can claim otherwise since Hunter took the fall for them…..but he’ll get probation anyway so no biggee. It’s not like he had a sterling reputation in the first place!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  39. TheseTruths

    TheseTruths(@thesetruths)

    Offline

    Wolf

    June 12, 2024 13:01

    Major Victory: Texas AG Ken Paxton Crushes Biden’s Overreach, Blocks Radical ‘Transgender’ Policies in Schools Nationwide

    In a landmark decision, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a major win against the Biden regime’s Department of Education (DOE), halting its efforts to enforce radical “transgender” policies in Texan educational institutions.

    This move effectively challenges the administration’s attempt to reinterpret Title IX to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes, in clear violation of both state and federal laws…

    In April 2024, the Biden regime announced that women will be forced to allow men in their locker rooms and bathrooms with a new 1577-page Title IX ruling. Women will be forced to compete against men, and accept men on their sports teams. Women and young girls will be required to share locker rooms and bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex.

    Now, the court has ruled in favor of Paxton, stating that the “Department lacks authority to redefine “sex” in a way that conflicts with Title IX.”

    Liked by 1 person

  49. Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey

    Black Snub-Nosed Monkey

    Common Marmoset

    Balk Uakari — just imagine: walking in the woods….late at night….with a flashlight and weak batteries….😲😲😲🙁🙁🙁😖😖😖???

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.