LIFE

No one seems to know why this 'Shrine' was built in rural Boone

Aaron Young
The Des Moines Register

Editor's Note: This story was originally posted May 22, 2017. 

BOONE, Ia. — Locating "The Shrine," as it has come to be known by locals, isn't easy.

It took me nearly two hours my first time of searching until I arrived at what many who've gone before me described as creepy and mysterious. I felt that vibe, for sure, but I was more stunned by its existence in rural Iowa.

I became obsessed with "The Shrine" in April, when I noticed it on a Reddit thread with more than 25 comments and read hundreds of other notes elsewhere about it on the internet.

"The Shrine" in Boone, Ia.

I was intrigued by the design of the front gate — showcasing distinct craftsmanship and a number of signs in big, bold lettering plastered on it that read "SUN," "PARK" and "LAND." Little piles of rock walls also surround the locked entrance.

And the two towers, with their triangular windows and intricate siding made of copper and other materials, look similar to medieval tree houses. The center tower, though — which is directly behind the front gate — has a walkable platform nearly halfway up the structure, supported by metal beams and even has a railing wrapped around it.

Without knowing its exact height, it's at least as tall as a 2-story house.

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"The Shrine" is alongside a gravel road in Jackson Township, about 50 minutes away from Des Moines. Because it's so deep off the main roads, it's very difficult to find — even accidentally.

Since mid-April, I've tried tracking down as much information as I could about "The Shrine" and its builder. I even wrote a letter to him after my first visit when I tried to meet him. But, I received no reply. 

'One of the secret gems of central Iowa'

A distinct front gate is in front of structure known as "The Shrine" located in rural Boone County on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

Comment threads on various websites claim that the person who built the structures did so as a way to honor family members who were tragically killed. Other rumors allege less wicked intentions, but nobody had supporting evidence.

Tammy Reimers, an administrative assistant with the Boone County Sheriff's Department, wrote me in an email last month that the rumors come from "a bunch of college kids making more out of an eccentric old man and his home."

"We have been responding to this poor man’s home for years telling the college and high school kids to move on," Reimers wrote. 

Jennifer Drinkwater, an assistant professor of art and visual culture at ISU, wrote me in an email that she used to ride her bike several times past "The Shrine" years ago.

She, too, admitted how she was "mildly obsessed" with it and was aware of the rumors.

"The structures are incredibly beautiful and one of the secret gems of central Iowa," Drinkwater wrote, who said she never tried to meet the owner.

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Tyler Coffey, the ISU student who started the Reddit thread, went with friends last month. He had a different impression.

"It looks like something straight out of a horror movie," Coffey wrote me in a Facebook message. He said he'd had no interaction with the creator of "The Shrine."

But we did. His name is Jon Samuelson. 

'I'm not (expletive) interested'

Register photographer Zach Boyden-Holmes and I drove down a single-lane gravel road, nearly five miles away from the paved highway last Tuesday. We made one final left turn and headed directly for the site.

Samuelson drove past us a couple of minutes after we arrived. He was dragging a large boulder chained to the rear of his old beat-up truck. Boyden-Holmes continued to snap photos through the front gates of "The Shrine" while I watched Samuelson.

A structure known as "The Shrine" located in rural Boone County on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

He parked his truck on the side of the road, got out and slowly approached us. He was tall and thin, wearing a black, sleeveless T-shirt tucked into his well-worn jeans, and a dusty, black baseball cap that kept his gray hair out of his eyes.

Samuelson didn't want to talk.

"I'm not (expletive) interested," Samuelson told us.

I was disappointed, but understood. I had hoped Samuelson would open up about himself, what the site means to him and his motives for its creation. I wanted to debunk the rumors, but it was clear Samuelson wanted us gone. 

Boyden-Holmes took a couple more photos, and we got back in my car and headed for Des Moines.

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From records, we know Samuelson is 77 and has owned his Boone home, directly across the road from "The Shrine," since 1974. Property records show that "The Shrine" is on 39 acres of land, which Samuelson owns.

I tried reaching out to potential relatives, but had no luck.

So I started looking for neighbors. It seemed as if I was at a dead end when no one was answering my calls.

But then Harvey Harrison picked up the phone.

A structure known as "The Shrine" located in rural Boone County on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

 

'Boone people aren't receptive to this stuff'

Harrison, 56, said he's lived in Boone "all my life" and has had conversations in the past with Samuelson. They live about 2 1/2 miles from each other.

"Him and I have a decent amount of trust, I would think," Harrison said.

I asked Harrison if he knows why Samuelson built "The Shrine."

He just has "the desire to build them," Harrison said.

Harrison said Samuelson lived in Florida when he inherited the land he owns today in Boone. While in Florida, Samuelson discovered his artistic side, Harrison said. 

He built things using copper that included some "flair," as Harrison put it.

"Floridians are receptive to that kind of stuff," Harrison said.

And when Samuelson brought that same creativity to rural Iowa?

"Boone people aren't receptive to this stuff," Harrison said.

I shared photos of "The Shrine" with Ingrid Lilligren, chairwoman of the art and visual culture department at Iowa State University's College of Design. She replied back in an email saying that it reminds her of 18th and 19th century French and English buildings called "follies."

"These often incorporated fantastic structures designed to elicit a sense of romantic nostalgia and other worldliness," Lilligren wrote.

Alison Ferris, the senior curator at the Des Moines Arts Center, wrote me in an email that without seeing "The Shrine" in person, it has potential to be considered as an "artist built environment," similar to other vernacular sites like the Grotto of Redemption in West Bend.

Harrison doesn't know if any of Samuelson's past creations or anything similar to "The Shrine" still exist.

But what Harrison does know: Samuelson is "a great guy."

"He's just a guy who's living his lifestyle of little technology and he might be somewhat concerned about who's asking about him," Harrison said.

"You might just call this guy a guy who has a creative bent."

Aaron Young

Aaron Young is a reporter for The Des Moines Register, focusing on what Iowans are talking about on social media. 

Follow him on Twitter: @AaYoung15.