This 2,000 Square Foot Helmer Castle In Jackson, Michigan Is For Sale For $529,000

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?

Why bother with apartments or houses when you can live in a family-sized castle?

Image credits: Helmer 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 Helmer Castle located at 7300 Draper Road, Jackson, Michigan is currently for sale

Image credits: Helmer Castle

The castle was built in 1927 by C.J. Jorgensen and was originally owned by violinist Max Helmer

Image credits: Helmer Castle

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.

Inspired by Roman architecture, Helmer designed and built one for himself after his European tour

Image credits: Helmer Castle

It’s a 2,000 square foot structure built in the middle of a 20 acre land surrounded by a forest

Image credits: Helmer Castle

The 2,000 square feet (185.8 square meters) Helmer’s Castle features a 60-foot (18.2 meters) 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 (almost 81,000 square meters).

Inside, it has 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen and dining area, a spacious living room, among other rooms

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Outside, there’s a basketball court, 3 separate patios, a garage, and vast areas of greenery

Image credits: Helmer Castle

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.

Check out the drone footage of Helmer’s Castle below

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Also, take a look at the overview of the castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

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.

Bue before you go, let us know what your thoughts are on this? If you purchased a castle, what would you do with it besides live in it? Let us know in the comment section below!

Here are some other pictures taken of the inside and the outside of the castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

The castle is said to have been a filming site for the 1977 horror film The Demon Lover

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

Image credits: Helmer Castle

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“It Took His Mom A Few Minutes To Do Yet It Lit Up His Whole Day”: Teacher Shares The Most Heartwarming Notes Student’s Mom Writes On His Pencils

No matter who or how old you are, every one of us has those days when life just seems to be tougher than usual. And in those difficult moments, an encouraging word from someone who cares about you could be all you need to realize that everything is going to be alright.

Kids are no exception. Going to school, studying and trying to make friends can be much more challenging to deal with than it may sometimes seem to us, adults. The problem is when kids are at school, parents simply aren’t able to be there and support them. That’s why slipping loving encouraging messages inside a child’s school backpack can be a really great way for parents to brighten their little one’s day.

…or you can always borrow an idea from this thoughtful mom. A Facebook user named Amanda Cox, who is also a teacher, has shared a lovely story on her profile that now has more than 600 thousand reacts. Let’s take a look at it!

Amanda shared a photo showing a bunch of pencils laying on some kind of surface and each of these pencils has sweet affirmation words written on it

Image credits: Amanda Cox

And here’s what she wrote

One day at work, Amanda noticed that she’s running out of pencils, so she asked her students to pull out any pencils that they had in their desks. One boy asked if he could keep the pencils that his mom gave him, and, o course, the teacher said yes. But then he changed his mind and decided to give some of them to his classmates.

When the boy gave some of his pencils to the teacher, she noticed that each of them had something written on them. Amanda realized that it was his mom who took the time to write these things on his pencils.

Here’s what was written on these pencils

All these pencils had all kinds of affirmations written on it, for instance, “you are so talented,” “you can do this,” “proud of you every day,” “you are the best” and so on. The teacher thought it was absolutely brilliant.

“THESE are the things that we should be reminding our kids”

Amanda encourages parents to always look for ways to remind their children how amazing and loved they are. “This probably took his mom a few minutes to do yet it lit up his whole day at school,” she wrote in her post. She believes that not only parents but teachers as well should take time to remind kids about these things.

Here’s what people thought about it

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How art is helping cities and towns recover from Covid-19

Towns and cities are using art and design to add a much-needed shot of positivity and optimism into city centres as they cautiously reopen for business

The post How art is helping cities and towns recover from Covid-19 appeared first on Creative Review.

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Elderly Lion Couple Euthanized At The Same Time So Neither Has To Live Alone

Last Thursday, the Los Angeles Zoo announced that animal care and health staff had made the difficult decision to put to sleep two of their lions at the same time. 21-year-old soulmates Hubert and Kalisa were euthanized “due to their declining health and age-related illnesses that had diminished their quality of life.”

Hubert was born in Chicago, at Lincoln Park Zoo, and Kalisa came from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and they met after they were transferred to Los Angeles Zoo in 2014. Since then, they had been completely inseparable from one another.

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

On average, lions that live in captivity make it to the age of 25 years, while the life expectancy of a lion living in the wild is about 12-16 years of age.

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

LA Zoo spokesman Beth Schaefer told the Los Angeles Times that the lions’ bond was evident even to visitors. “These lions were charismatic both together as partners and separately, but they were hardly ever apart from one another,” she said. “Their undivided attention was always on the other as they rested together, cuddled and nuzzled often.”

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Even though Hubert fathered 10 cubs over his life, he and Kalisa did not have any together.

“This is a very hard loss for our zoo community,” Alisa Behar, the zoo’s curator of mammals, said in a statement. “In the early mornings, staff would routinely hear Hubert’s waking roars, and I will personally miss hearing them on my walks around the grounds. You cannot think of Hubert without thinking of his companion, Kalisa; they’ve been an inseparable couple for years.”

Image credits: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Here’s what people said about the majestic couple

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