Is this Heaven?

No, it's Iowa.

Yes, Ron's bucket list has had the Field of Dreams house/field on it for quite some time.  We were traveling in the midwest about 15 years ago and he said "let's go" but it was pretty far away and we were short on time.  So it was then that he added it to his list.  And now we were here.

Universal Pictures built the baseball diamond in 1988 on two farms in Deyersville, Iowa for the 1989 film Field of Dreams.  When production was complete, the baseball diamond created for the movie was left behind.  Most of the baseball field, including the diamond and house, was on a farm owned by the Lansing family, but the left and center field were on an adjacent property owned by the Ameskamp family.  The field was built across the two properties because the producers wanted to place the field in a location where sunset shots would have a clear line of sight.

After filming completed, the Lansing family kept their portion of the field intact while adding a small hut where visitors could buy souvenirs.  The Ameskamp family returned their land to farming for a year, but then restored the remainder of the field and opened up their own souvenir stand.  The two owners had operated separate tourist facilities and had also been at odds regarding commercialization of the site.

Today's "souvenir" stand.

In 2007, Rita Ameskamp sold the land containing her portion of the baseball field to Don and Becky Lansing, the owners of the remainder of the field.  As a result, for the first time the movie site was owned entirely by the Lansing family.  In 2010, the Lansings announced they were putting the farm up for sale and in 2011, it was reported that a sale had been agreed upon with a private partnership called Go the Distance Baseball, headed by Denise Stillman, who died at the age of 46 in 2018 from a rare form of liver cancer.  Go the Distance has owned and preserved the movie site since December 28, 2012.

According to Go the Distance, visitor traffic has increased from 65,000 to 100,000 visitors per year.  Not long after buying the movie site, Go the Distance announced plans for a 24-field youth baseball and softball complex known as All-Star Ballpark Heaven.  The project was initially intended to open in 2014 but there have been difficulties finding funding and legal action from neighboring property owners.  Plus, the cost has ballooned from the initial proposal of $38 million to more than $70 million.  In late 2021, it was announced that Frank Thomas purchased a controlling interest in Go the Distance Baseball LLC.

It was pretty surreal to stand on and around the field.  The MLB game had just been played at the field beyond the corn about 10 days before we visited and they were busy taking down some of the green bleachers.

We walked to the outfield to check it out.  

Oh look, a player is coming out to play!

The pitchers mound on the Field of Dreams field was still decorated for the MLB game that was played next door.

Without a bat, I used my phone to take a swing.

We had scheduled a house tour so we were waiting for our appointed time.  I loved watching the fathers and sons/daughters having a catch.

These are the bleachers that Karen fell from when she choked on a hot dog.

The house was beautiful from every angle.

From the outfield

From the infield

It was time for our house tour so we walked to the meeting place and met Craig.  Someone on the tour told him they loved his uniform and would love to have it - he said it was Ebbitt's wool and, therefore, was extremely hot.  Get the man a summer uniform!

It was a step back in time to enter the house.  Go the Distance did their best to recreate the props used in the movie but since much of it was covered in dust in a warehouse in Hollywood, they filled the house with period pieces that matched as closely as possible to the original movie props.

The island in the movie was butcher block

The yellow container was an original from the movie.

One thing that Universal left was the stove - it was heavy and difficult to get into the house so they left it for the Lansing family.

The production company originally tried to cast Jimmy Stewart in the role of Archie (Moonlight) Graham but his health did not allow him to take the role at the time - it was ultimately filled by Burt Lancaster.  Therefore, as a homage to Jimmy Stewart they put the movie "Harvey", starring Jimmy Stewart, on the TV in a scene where Karen was watching it before her father abruptly turned it off.  Archie Graham was a real-life baseball player and medical doctor who appeared as a right fielder in a single major league baseball game for the New York Giants in 1908.  

We spent some time in the dining room.

And the living room.

The movie was originally called Shoeless Joe.  A focus group viewed the movie and helped Universal come to the conclusion that it wasn't a great title.  And Field of Dreams was born.

The "Ghost Players" signed a photo which hangs in the house.

A few changes were made to the Lansing House to enhance the film.  One was an extension to the porch and a new bench swing.  Can you picture Annie and Karen sitting on the swing watching the games?

We learned that all filming was done in Iowa and Galena, Illinois.  The scenes of Boston, except for when Ray initially drives in, are from downtown Dubuque.  The scene when they found Moonlight Graham was from Galena - hey, we were just there yesterday!  

Fun fact:  I'll bet you've wondered how they got all the cars to drive in for the last scene, right?  The film's publicist ran an advertisement with an entry form in the local newspaper.  Anyone interested in participating in the final scene could send in the form and the first 1,500 entries were sent a pass, enabling them and a passenger to ride in their vehicle.  There were three takes - the third one was used in the movie, with the drivers rapidly changing their lights from bright to dim to give the twinkling effect with the scene being shot from a helicopter.  The guide mentioned that only about the first 10 cars were actually moving and Don Lansing drove the first car in the line to the Field of Dreams.

This is a very special place and I'm so glad we were able to visit.  When we got "home", we immediately put the DVD in the player and watched the movie so that we could see all of the things we'd just seen.  What a fantastic movie!

People did (and still do) most definitely come!