Local pilot Tres Clinton likes to tell his students and passengers the castle near Burnet was built in the thirteenth century but, no, it's a flight of fancy built by a Texas couple in the 1990s. ABOVE: CHRIS ROSE German immigrants Ernst and Antoinette Gruene built their home in the hill country, establishing the town of Gruene, which included the dance hall and saloon, then and now the center of the community's social life. aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 81http://www.aopa.org/pilot