I received E-Mail that said:
There's a castle by Muirfield Village, in Columbus, Ohio near where the PGA Memorial Golf Tournament is played every year. This castle has to be the best castle I've ever seen. It's pretty long and it's about 3 or 4 stories high. Colonel Sanders bought it for his granddaughter. He, of course, owned the well known fast food chicken places, 'Colonel Sanders'. When he died they changed the franchise' to KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken).
On 6-1-05, I received E-Mail that said:
The castle that was mentioned as being in the Muirfield area was built by the Gaspero family. My parent's had friends that were master carpenters and did the cabinetry in the kitchen & my boss's mother is a friend of the Gaspero family. Somewhere in a a trunk full of photos, I have some interior and exterior pictures I took the one time I was there..I'll dig them up and scan them asap.I remember a gorgeous interior courtyard and one of the bedrooms had a gathered fabric ceiling.
I do know this much for sure--it wasn't owned by KFC's Sanders. The Gaspero fortune came from the invention of a chicken plucking machine that was sold to KFC.
On 4-3-10, I received e-mail that said:
Alio Gasbarro built the "Castle" mentioned on your website. I grew up with the Gasbarro family and spent a good bit of time at " Gasbarros Castle" growing up. One of the pillars that held the front gate had " Zaponete" carved/engraved on it. a lot of people thought the house was built by the Zaponete family. It supposedly meant "work or "work at nite" in Italian. Growing up everyone mis-pronounced their name as "Gasparrow or Gaspero" when it was really Gasbarro...Me included
Below is a link to an ariel sshot of it from google maps....It is in the right quadrant, with the circular drive, italian tile roof with glass center section and pond. the address is 8024 Avery Rd, Dublin, Ohio.
On 11-9-15, I received e-mail that said:
I was a friend of the Gasbarro family here in Columbus. Alio Gasbarro built the ‘mansion’ and copied it off of James Deering’s home on Biscayne Bay in Miami. The homes super structure was reclaimed wooden beams from the old Deshler-Wallick hotel in downtown Columbus, that were sandblasted and sculpted into ornate columns. The home is built around an internal courtyard which is covered by a retractable glass roof.
During construction (some 30 years ago) , Alio was diagnosed with lung cancer and had part of his lung removed. He refused the prescribed chemotherapy and opted for alternative treatment (laetrile, vitamins and enzymes). He is alive and well today retired in Florida.
Alio had two brothers – Nick and Gino. They all originally worked for
their father who started Washington Poultry here in Columbus – that was
a major supplier to KFC and other fast food operators. Gino was the one
who invented the machines – not Alio, and it was one that sliced the
chickens –not plucked them. Alio broke off and started his own poultry
brokerage business and as mentioned above, has since retired and lives
in Florida.
Is there someplace I can get a picture?
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