This week's PhotoHunt theme is "road."
These are photos from a road trip I took to a charming Roadside Attraction in Prospect Hill, NC.
This miniature stone village was built by North Carolina farmer Henry L. Warren (1883-1978) with help from his neighbor Junius Pennix. The village consists of 27 small buildings that include a church, a hospital, a hotel, and a mill with a waterwheel. Mr. Warren named his little village Shangri-la.
Mr. Warren began building Shangri-la in 1968 when he was 75 years old and worked on it for the next nine years until he died at age 84. The village is made of white quartz and other stone that Mr. Warren found on his farmland. I love this place so much! Happy weekend to all.
The road by Shangri-la:
More photos below:
Henry L. Warren's sign at the entrance to Shangri-la:
Comments (59)
A beautiful little stone village :)
Posted by napaboaniya | September 19, 2008 12:20 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 12:20
What a beautiful miniature village by the road!! such wonderful work.
Posted by Mar | September 19, 2008 12:24 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 12:24
this is a fanciful place. i would love to see this one myself. nice road leading to this village.
Posted by Photo Cache | September 19, 2008 1:42 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 13:42
What a cool place. I can't believe I've never heard of it. I went on the map and I only live 50 miles from there (I'm in the triangle area). I'm so glad you posted this as I'll have to go see it one day soon.
Posted by Carver | September 19, 2008 1:46 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 13:46
THat is so delightful. I wish we had something like that near us! Happy weekend
Posted by jams O'Donnell | September 19, 2008 4:00 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:00
WOW - what a great place!!
Happy Weekend.
Posted by Pat | September 19, 2008 4:05 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:05
What a wonderful mini stone-village. Have never seen anything like this.
Have a great weekend!
Posted by Randi | September 19, 2008 4:23 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:23
Oh this is fabulous! I love this place and the quote at the end is great...
Posted by ellen b | September 19, 2008 4:39 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:39
Oh now that is gorgeous! I love miniature villages. We have one here, way across town, that I used to take my boys too, all the time.
You have brought back memories this morning. :)
Posted by Leslie | September 19, 2008 4:40 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:40
This is very nice, i will have to find a way to visit, please stop by and take a trip down my country roads....they are in North Georgia near Blairsville.
Posted by sarge charlie | September 19, 2008 4:51 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:51
Very nice. What a lot of work.
Posted by Colin Campbell | September 19, 2008 5:05 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 17:05
What a wonderful post for the theme today. This really is a beautiful Shangri-la.
Posted by Leslie in Canada | September 19, 2008 5:13 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 17:13
they are so cute... great shots
Hope you visit mine... Photohunt: Road
have a great weekend
Posted by aeirin | September 19, 2008 6:03 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 18:03
Perfect choice for today's theme... I'm back! Mine's up too hope you can drop by.... Happy weekend!
Posted by Pretty Life Online | September 19, 2008 6:11 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 18:11
Oh wow -that's a really cool theme you followed!
Posted by expatraveler | September 19, 2008 7:25 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 19:25
This is so beautiful and what a most wonderful project it was for Mr. Warren and his friend to undertake. It must have brought them much happiness as it does those who are so fortunate to view it. And what a wonderful verse the stone holds! Lovely post.
Posted by me Ann my camera | September 19, 2008 8:01 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 20:01
A road that's lead us to a beautiful stone village..
Nice entry for this week theme :)
p/s: thanks for stopping by my PH earlier
Posted by bintang4 | September 19, 2008 8:50 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 20:50
Oh that is very cool and very interesting entry. TC
Posted by gen/entryhere | September 19, 2008 9:07 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 21:07
That's a cute stone village!
Posted by Blur Mommy | September 19, 2008 9:27 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 21:27
Hi Annie, wonderful theme photo selection. If I saw Mr. Warren's shangri-la driving along that road, I would definitely stop and visit.
Cool post! Have a nice weekend too!
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | September 19, 2008 10:24 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 22:24
This is so beautiful!! What an amazing feat! I want one in my garden.
Posted by eastcoastlife | September 19, 2008 11:19 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 23:19
That's fantastic!
Posted by Suzanne Says... | September 19, 2008 11:25 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 23:25
That stone village is fascinating, and I like how the plaque ties in with the "road". Great post and happy hunting.
Posted by Angela at mommy bytes | September 20, 2008 12:34 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 00:34
Amazing how creative and passionate people can be about things, huh? Thanks for bringing Henry L. Warren's Shangri-la to our attention! :)
Posted by YTSL | September 20, 2008 1:10 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 01:10
very very neat'o!
Posted by dawn | September 20, 2008 1:38 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 01:38
This is such a cool post! I love the little stone houses! Great choice for this week's theme! Happy Weekend!!
Posted by girasoli | September 20, 2008 2:55 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 02:55
what a great little place!
cool photo's, nice post!
view mine if you wish here thanks.....
Posted by graham | September 20, 2008 3:57 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 03:57
Oh my gosh...if I saw this on the road, I probably wouldn't want to leave. How clever.
Mine's shared...all about the "Devil" this week. Come see. Have a great weekend, and happy hunting!
Posted by Hootin' Anni | September 20, 2008 4:58 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 04:58
What a great project to take on in the 'twilight' years of your life! Super choice for this week's theme.
Posted by Jerry | September 20, 2008 5:39 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 05:39
What a lovely village. A beautiful project, and a perfect entry for today's theme. Really nice.
Posted by Dragonstar | September 20, 2008 6:42 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 06:42
wow... I have never seen such great work done by this man... The miniature village is priceless.. I would love to visit it ..thanks for sharing it with us....
Posted by Baba/ night owl | September 20, 2008 7:13 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 07:13
What a labor of love!
Posted by June | September 20, 2008 7:37 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 07:37
Wow... this village is amazing.. love it...I would love to visit it in person..
Posted by Baba/ night owl | September 20, 2008 8:00 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 08:00
Oh … this was delightful! Thanks so much for sharing this lovely miniature village with us today.
Hugs and blessings,
Posted by storyteller | September 20, 2008 8:33 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 08:33
an amazing village
Posted by bengbeng | September 20, 2008 8:38 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 08:38
That's incredible - what's the scale on that thing?
Posted by Kim | September 20, 2008 10:04 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 10:04
Hi Kim, the tallest buildings are probably around 4 ft. tall or so, and others are smaller.
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
Posted by Annie | September 20, 2008 10:20 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 10:20
If i'm ever on a roadtrip that way I hope I pass by this. Fantastic Love it!
Posted by Heather | September 20, 2008 10:53 AM
Posted on September 20, 2008 10:53
Annie, when I first looked at the picture before reading the text, I thought that it was a real town and they just had a horrible, boulder filled road. Great shots and sweet story.
Posted by Deborah | September 20, 2008 12:51 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 12:51
What a cool little village. It's great that he built it where others could enjoy it. And I love the quote on the plaque. Perfect for the road theme.
Baker
(Thanks for dropping by and the comments earlier)
Posted by Baker Watson | September 20, 2008 1:22 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 13:22
What a lovely take on the theme. I adore roadside attractions like this, even though I'm married to someone who gets too impatient to explore them. Thank you for sharing this with us.
And thanks also for visiting my site this morning.
Posted by Sallyacious | September 20, 2008 3:25 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 15:25
simply beautiful!!!
Here's mine. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Posted by Jo | September 20, 2008 4:35 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 16:35
What an amazing little stone village. Must have been so much work to build! Creative choice for our theme.
Posted by PastormacsAnn Megill | September 20, 2008 8:00 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 20:00
Very nice shots, thanks for the visit.
Posted by Emmyrose | September 20, 2008 8:34 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 20:34
Wow! I've never seen art quite like that. Along the roadside you say? Very different. Thanks for sharing! Hope you will stop by my place when you have time.
Posted by Enigma | September 20, 2008 9:53 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 21:53
That is a place where my children would enjoy going to :)
Posted by julie | September 20, 2008 10:04 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 22:04
Now that was cool! :-)
Thanks for visiting my post!
Posted by Gabriel | September 20, 2008 10:32 PM
Posted on September 20, 2008 22:32
oh, that's so amazingly beautiful creation! thanks for sharing:)
Posted by A Grateful Heart | September 21, 2008 12:12 AM
Posted on September 21, 2008 00:12
awww, i love miniature villages, i posted model village pics on my blog a couple of weeks ago.
But this village is so cool!
Posted by kaycee | September 21, 2008 6:40 AM
Posted on September 21, 2008 06:40
Stunning series. I love the local culture
Posted by roentarre | September 21, 2008 7:50 AM
Posted on September 21, 2008 07:50
What cute photos. It is always interesting to me what some people will do as a hobby. Watts towers is another one of those (like this), where somebody just started building stuff because... Why? Boredom? Vision? Who knows.
Posted by Brine Queen | September 21, 2008 10:49 AM
Posted on September 21, 2008 10:49
What a sweet little place! And I love the quote on the plaque.
Happy Sunday!
Posted by María I. | September 21, 2008 1:44 PM
Posted on September 21, 2008 13:44
This is an unique take on this week's theme. Loved this little village.
Posted by ann | September 21, 2008 11:34 PM
Posted on September 21, 2008 23:34
WOW! It's so cute!
Posted by Irene | September 22, 2008 5:10 AM
Posted on September 22, 2008 05:10
Wow that's amazing!
Posted by rach | September 22, 2008 12:00 PM
Posted on September 22, 2008 12:00
I wish how I wish I had the opportuntiy to photograph this.
It's fantastic.
Thanks for coming by mine.
Waving at you from New York
Posted by Frances | September 22, 2008 11:56 PM
Posted on September 22, 2008 23:56
This is FANTASTIC!! I love the inscription on the stone, what a lovely motto for life.
(and WOW what a lot of comments you've gotten on this post!)
Posted by Anne | September 24, 2008 9:34 AM
Posted on September 24, 2008 09:34
wow! great small stone structures! I'd definitely love a walk along that road
Posted by Bisdak Babbles | September 26, 2008 12:09 PM
Posted on September 26, 2008 12:09
What a neat - um, well - toy.
Posted by Alice Audrey | September 27, 2008 10:54 AM
Posted on September 27, 2008 10:54