Lee and Karen Duquette visited the
amazing
Shangri-La Stone Village
11535 NC Highway 86
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
September 6, 2025
Located off NC-86 between Hillsborough and Yanceyville, North Carolina, on a short stretch of old highway about 500 feet north of Barnwell Road. A volunteer fire station is the ONLY other place on this short surface.
The buildings are about five-feet tall and made of stone from a quarry. It is the sole creation of one man, Henry Warren, who began building Shangri-La in 1968 at the age of 72. In all, there are about 27 buildings in the village.
Henry L. Warren, a retired tobacco farmer, hand-picked the rocks, and single-handedly built every single aspect of this lovable little stone village. This is open and visitors are welcome to come anytime for no charge.
Started after he retired, Henry L. Warren's Shangri-La Stone Village is a comprehensive set of buildings made from concrete, stone, and thousands of arrowheads. In 1968, Warren began work on his gnome-sized village using rock that he blasted from his own land. Usually equipped with some Coca-Cola and a cigarette, Warren worked all through his final nine living years to bring his city to life. When he passed away in 1977, Shangri-La consisted of 27 completed buildings. The village has a theater, a gym, a hotel, and even a tall water tower. Ironically, Warren was working on adding a hospital when he passed away.
Having been built with solid stone, the village has weathered the decades quite well. Lee and Karen Duquette visited the little buildings by following the stone path that leads from the house. Even the path itself was one of Warrens creations, incorporating thousands of arrowheads underfoot
Below: Just past the Volunteer Fire Department, Lee and Karen Duquette came to a beautiful house right next to Shangri-La Stone Village
Note: Lee and Karen Duquette walked through this several times because it was amazing. Karen tried to put the matching photos near each other, even though some were taken at the beginning of the tour and some of the same items photographed later towards the end of the tour. No matter how people walk through here, it is an amazing place.
Below: View of Shangri-La Village and a close-up of the small piece just to the left-side of the donkey shown below.
Below: Lee and Karen Duquette began by walking down the right side of Shangri-La Village, near the house that is shown a bit above and behind the church.
Below: There was one water tower here.
Below: A water wheel, the water tower and more amazing miniature buildings.
Below: Looking towards the side of the road (on the side of the house shown earlier) and across from the above water wheel.
There were lots of little items everywhere. Lee Duquette thinks previous visitors with children left stuff behind for others to enjoy, Karen Duquette would have liked the stuff not to be here.
Below: Lee Duquette admiring the houses, while Karen photographed things just behind him on the driveway side.
Below: Ready to leave, Lee and Karen Duquette walked along the upper side of the structures,
Below: Before Leaving Shangri-La Stone Village, Lee and Karen Duquette walked up the other side of the Shangri-La Stone Village and approached the road side once again.
Below: Karen Duquette in the car, ready for the next adventure.
Below: Driving by some sort of a Tin Man
