I've copied this from http://www.geocities.com/erik_mccrea/linksOP.html
PRINCIPALITY OF PARADISE:
This is one of the names for the Las Vegas home of Dr. Lonnie L. Hammargren, a
first-class retired neurosurgeon who moved to Nevada in 1971. Castillo del Sol,
as it is now called, started out as a $45,000 wood-frame and stucco,
four-bedroom house built from a standard plan in 1969. Located in an affluent
neighborhood (Paradise Crest), it was once an ordinary domicile which the
wealthy but quirky doctor purchased in 1972. A large addition was built in 1975
to accommodate an observatory and planetarium. The property, which has
experienced a steady transformation since being bought, now sits on about 2
acres. The estate was expanded to include two large neighboring houses, and Dr.
Hammargren thereupon began the task of physically connecting all 3 dwellings
together in order to create the 12,500 square-foot “castle” he shares with his
wife Sandy. A majority of its façade attempts to duplicate, in full-scale, the
Palace of the Governor found in the ancient Mayan ruins of Uxmal, in the
Yucatán. A compelling structure sits atop the original house: modeled after the
Castillo pyramid in Chichén Itzá, it gives rise to the official name of the
house, Castillo Del Sol, the Castle of the Sun. “The entrance hall into
Castillo del Sol is a music room featuring Liberace's honky tonk piano which he
took to performances all over the country.” Other attractions include a Toy
Room, a Car Museum, an Egyptian Tomb, and a Cathedral of Knowledge — all filled
with thousands of uniquely presented artifacts, objets d'art, eclectic
memorabilia, one-of-a-kind displays, irreplaceable heirlooms, personal effects
ranging from trivial knick-knacks to knockout-quality treasures, reproductions
and rarities of every shape and size. A replica of Stonehenge can be found on
the roof of one of the residences. Dr. Hammargren is known all over Nevada for
his “backyard constructions”, and the entire rear grounds of his triple abode is
a topographical representation of the 36th state. This mostly Nevada-themed
panorama, which further reflects his passion for collecting, is crammed with
what some of the locals consider to be an unsightly agglomeration of exhibits,
including an Apollo space capsule, submarines, trains, an electric mining
railroad engine/car once used to dig tunnels in Yucca Mountain, replicas of the
Lincoln Memorial and Statue of Liberty, a miniature Hoover Dam, giant movie
props, a fire-spewing dragon from an erstwhile casino show, vintage neon signs
from several closed or imploded hotels, and other oversized souvenirs. On
February 8th 1993, the Department of Interior honored the eccentric Dr.
Hammargren by recognizing his outstanding complex as a branch of the
Smithsonian, naming it the “Hammarsonian Museum”. Nevertheless, the same home
was voted “Worst Las Vegas Eyesore” in 1997 by readers of the Review-Journal
newspaper. Even the good doctor himself has been quoted as saying “I don't know
whether it's LonnieLand or LooneyLand”. The kitschy, eye-catching building,
a.k.a. the Hammargren Home of Nevada History, is available for tours and
fundraising. As evidenced by the above description of his unusual home, the
intellectual interests of the fun-loving doctor “are broad, ranging from biology
to medicine to mathematics, anthropology and psychology. His special focus is
the history of scientific thought...Lonnie fancies himself as an amateur
archaeoastronomer” (a specific discipline that combines archaeology and
astronomy). The first trained micro-surgeon in Nevada, he was also a clinical
professor of neurosurgery at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in
Reno. Over the years, Dr. Hammargren came to be known by the title “Surgeon of
the Gladiators”, due to his many operations on boxers, motorcyclists, and
Hollywood stunt-people. His political aspirations began in 1976, when he ran for
university regent and lost. He lost again in 1982, but in 1984 he won a seat on
the state Board of Education; in 1988 he finally won the regent's job and served
for 6 years ('89 to '95). He then served as Nevada's Lieutenant Governor from
1995-98. He spent $547,724 to win the race, including $412,000 of his own money.
According to some observers, those years in public service were marked by a
string of controversies. After his term expired, the astute politician then
briefly ran for governor as a Republican candidate during the '98 primary.
Though he'd by then grown accustomed to being hectored by the media, Dr.
Hammargren withdrew from the race in August of that year due to lack of support.
Starting in 2004, he was also featured in many headlines for touring the state
with his mobile Mid-East Memorial Wall, which bears the names of military
personnel who perished in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2005, he began to seriously
explore the possibility of re-entering politics and running for the GOP
nomination for Lieutenant Governor in '06.
I attended Dr. Hammargren's annual Nevada Day open-house celebration, an event
which is open to the entire community, on October 30, 2005. I also visited him
subsequently on a couple of separate occasions. In one of those friendly
meetings, he provided me with a copy of an announcement which states that “The
Principality of Paradise was founded on the principle that where we are living
is Paradise.” While reading the text aloud, he emphasized that he meant this
both literally and figuratively. “This small-in-area but large-in-spirit
principality was founded 8 December, 1990, at a Constitutional Convention held
on the 40th anniversary of the founding of Paradise City, Nevada.” In a 1991
letter to the U.S. Secret Service, he further describes the Principality as
being “a neighborhood society with the main purpose of having fun.” Well aware
of governmental paranoia about private citizens producing his/her own
circulating medium of exchange, Dr. Hammargren utilizes this formal document to
clarify his overall purpose for proposing “the currency of Paradise, which is
called a Dupee. The United States prints superb money which is difficult to
duplicate. Since the Principality has no printing budget, it seems more feasible
to create a Dupee out of the U.S. $2 bill...Our plan in using the money is not
to defraud people, only to dazzle them with our creativity. Our coinage of the
realm currently resembles U.S. coinage in every characteristic except odor. The
basic units are 1/100 of a Dupee, which is called a Scent.” These Scents are
embodied in standard American pocket-change, but based on the previously
mentioned 2-for-1 exchange rate, they are worth precisely half as much (“a U.S.
quarter is 1/8 of a Dupee”, for example). He goes on to declare his intention to
mint “a commemorative coin only for use within the Principality.” He ends the
missive by reassuring the C.I.A. that if “any of the Principality money is being
counterfeited by others or being used to defraud or deface U.S. currency, the
Principality will be glad to reimburse the Service for any costs which arose
because of confusion of the markedly similar money. Please notify us immediately
if any violations occur.” In our ensuing conversation, Dr. Hammargren explained
to me that “Dupee”, even though it is a word he coined, is meant to be
reminiscent of “Rupee”; it also stands for “duplicate”.
Semantically, one would expect a Principality to be ruled by a Prince. But
instead, the handsome 1990 1 Dupee depicts its unflappable headman as “Principal
Lonnie Hammargren” (I made a point to ask him why he chose to give himself the
title of “Principal”. His reasoning was that, contrary to “Prince”, the
scholastic term sounded dignified without being overly egocentric). I happened
upon this piece on eBay. I later received a similar-looking 1991 100 Dupees,
which also features the heraldic “Bird of Paradise”, directly from Dr.
Hammargren in exchange for one of my 2005 Zilchstadt pieces. I also obtained a
“Princess Sandra” 2,000 Dupees, dated 2000. All three coins were produced by
Nevada Coin Mart (now Nevada Coin Minting). It is worth noting that during Bill
Clinton's re-election campaign, Dr. Hammargren personally gave one of his Dupees
to the President. The colorful doctor's paradisiacal Web-site, though it does
not include any information whatsoever about the token itself, is:
http://www.principality-of-paradise.com/
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