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Information:
Castillo del Sol, as it is now called, started out as a $45,000 house built in 1969 from a standard plan as a frame stucco, four bedroom house. the large addition built in 1975 was placed over the top and in front of the house to accommodate an observatory and planetarium. This was built to local code and without a variance, as it met the conditions for ranch estates that limit height to 35 feet. Several lawsuits have been dismissed after it was proven that the building met applicable codes and that the doctor was not a "Peeping Tom".
The doctor had long wanted to study astronomy, but never had the time, money, or the inclination to sit outside in the cold Minnesota nights to study the stars. His science interests are broad, ranging from biology to medicine to mathematics, anthropology and psychology. His special focus is the history of scientific thought. Most old structures such as the pyramids and Stonehenge were oriented to directions relevant to the positions and motions of the sun, moon and stars. The specific discipline that studies this combination of archaeology and astronomy is called archaeoastronomy. Lonnie fancies himself as an amateur archaeoastronomer.
Above the entrance is a stairway to the top of the Mayan pyramid. This is modeled after the Castillo pyramid in the Yucatan. It gives rise to the name of the house, Castillo Del Sol, the Castle of the Sun.
Paraphrased from the home page, "Principality of Paradise" http://www.principality-of-paradise.com/
I'm an avid collector and save many pieces of Las Vegas History. From signs, props, shows....well you name it, from the Vegas of just yesterday. I also collect items of Nevada history, space, astronomy, medicine, art, music and much more. There are more photos of the collection in my pics under 'Vegas Lonnie', check them out!
The homes (there are 3 connected together) have been featured on Robin Leach's Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, and many other shows on networks like HGTV & Discovery Channel. The museum is open to the public on Nevada Day weekend, special events, and available to rent for private tours, parties, and video shoots.
My medical career began as a Flight Surgeon in Viet Nam, and I flew over 100 missions. After that I was a Flight Surgeon for NASA's Apollo Moon Shot, and had been selected for the Astronaut Program, but my vision didn't pass their muster...yet went on to become a Neurosurgeon!
I have many friends in the Space program including Russian Cosmonauts. I also have Russian Space Art in my collection, with works done by many of them, including the first man to walk in Space, Alexi Leonov. These paintings had been in the Smithsonian until the fall of the USSR. They were featured in the book 'In the Stream of the Stars' with Ray Bradbury.
Lonnie turned 70 on Christmas Day 2007. As the story goes; he was born in a manger inside a stable behind an inn on December 25th, ironic but true! His father purchased a small building that once housed horses that was behind a road house in Harris Minnesota. The ‘Inn’ was a stage coach stop between Duluth and St. Paul. His Dad converted the ‘stable’ into a house wherein the good doctor was born. Lonnie has got a lot of mileage out that tale over the years. In 1993, it generated a story on the front page of USA Today. Lonnie & Sandy had a live nativity seen in his front yard. One of the neighbors complained to the County Commission believing the donkeys, sheep and goats were getting too cold??? The front page short story in USA Today was; "They’re trying to kick my ass out of Paradise"; the Hammargren home is in the Township of Paradise.
Lonnie’s My Space page
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