Three ornate spinning wheels languish in the abandoned Queen Anne mansion Ben and Sigrun Letellier purchase for a pittance, along with a trunk full of documents in 19th-century German script. Sigrun is certain they'll uncover a rewarding romantic connection if they can decipher the correspondence of Lemuel Kunz, who built their "castle" and the salon wheels buried inside it. But the deeper they pry into the deceased spinning wheel maker's life, the clearer it becomes that Kunz decides to "help" them. And when the cabinetmaker's plans for building his wheels show up out of nowhere, Sigrun's troubled brother ventures to emulate Kunz's feat. Lars's effort to craft a Saxony wheel that would do Queen Victoria proud, using the very lathes and chisels Kunz himself used, emerges as a desperate quest to overcome his ego's bruising at the hands of homophobic bullies, and earn his unsuspecting father's respect.