Keller's castle is his magic kingdom

TOENISVORST, Germany — Kasey Keller speeds home along the autobahn after practice each day, then winds down country roads until the two turrets appear through the trees, the black metal gates swing open and he pulls into the driveway.

He may very well be the only player preparing for the World Cup who makes his home in a castle.

Next to a cattle farm in a small town in northwest Germany, the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. World Cup team lives with his wife, two children and Rufus, a white Maltese, in a 1,000-year-old rented castle.

His renovated four-floor kingdom is complete with two towers, moat and chapel. Instead of a dungeon, the basement has a spa with pool, Jacuzzi and steam room.

How did a 36-year-old goalkeeper, who grew up on an egg farm in Lacey, Wash., wind up spending nights in a brick-and-stone tower, like some medieval prisoner?

It began in a most modern way: His wife spotted the castle on the Internet after he left London's Tottenham Hotspur in January 2005 and signed with a team that has perhaps the longest name in professional sports: Borussia Moenchengladbach. It's about a 20-minute drive north from the team's stadium and practice fields.

"We wanted to be closer, but we couldn't find the house we were looking for," he said on a cold March afternoon with forbidding, gray skies. "I had a look at it. Kristin and the kids came over and had a look at it. They thought it would be cool, and I thought it would be cool. For a short period of time, a couple of years, it's kind of fun."

Chloe and Cameron, 8-year-old twins, get to play princess and prince from their tower-top bedroom, but get all the conveniences, too, such as laptops and the indoor pool. Outside, near the bridge over the moat, a statue sits in the muskrat-infested garden, most likely of Aphrodite, he says. Decayed gargoyles keep vigil over the castle wall, perhaps to ward off evil spirits. Inside, contemporary furniture fills a living room with a black and white checkerboard floor and fireplace. A blue and green painting of a soccer goal by British artist Mackenzie Thorpe hangs prominently.

"The original structure was built in 970, and I think another major construction was in the 1200s," he said "Then in the mid-1800s it burned out and sat derelict for 150 years. Because it's one of the oldest castles in Germany, the historic society gave some grants if somebody would rebuild it. And then they built this middle part, between the two towers. The current owner built it after the remodeling but then extended it, put in the deck and the conservatory and added onto the kitchen and then built the spa in the basement."