About Dr. Hammargren and his Home.
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.