COVINGTON CASTLE

The Castle is located in Newton County, Georgia on Hwy 81. It has a Covington mailing address, but in actuality lies between the towns of Porterdale and McDonough. It can be seen from the highway during the winter when the trees thin out, but during the rest of the year is difficult to see. This is not because we intended isolation as much as because much of the property is floodplain and the highest point was chosen for the construction.

Construction began on this castle, which is really more of a chateau, in 1990. It was framed with 1x6s to make it more sturdy, and was faced with local granite. The castle was dried-in later that year, but an extremely unwise decision had been made regarding the contractor, and as a direct result the funds ran out before the building could be finished. The interior was merely framed-in, the exterior only partially faced with stonework, and neither the wiring nor the plumbling were completed. Because of this it could not be occupied at the time, and the money had to be saved up to complete the project.

During the time between the cessation of construction and the resumption of building a number of years passed while the pennies were scrimped and saved to complete it. The structure could not be insured during that time since it was neither under construction nor occupied, and it was extensively vandalized. Children broke out every window, adults stole wiring and piping, and teenagers began sneaking in to hang out.

Because very few people knew why the castle was incomplete and unoccupied, lurid tales were invented to explain this. The four most popular of these were 1) that it was built by two lesbian lovers who later died as the result of a mutual suicide pact, 2) that a crazy woman had brought it over a stone at a time from England, but had killed herself after being jilted by her faithless fiance, 3) that it was the home of a witch, and 4) that it was being built by Ozzie Ozbourne who just lost interest in it. While the last is our favorite, none of these tales have any basis whatsoever in fact. However, some people do still persist in believing the tales because they are far more colorful than the rather boring (and confirmable) truth that no one has ever died in the Castle, that it is not haunted, and that regular people live in it -- for all that our hobbies include the History of the Middle Ages and Renaissance and historical recreation, meaning that we sometimes "dress funny".

The Castle, which now has been occupied for nearly four years, has five towers and five total levels counting the basement, the main floor, the second floor, the attic, and a small garret above the attic (which we sometimes claim jokingly to be saving for "Ozzie"). All ceilings are 12' high, but the interior is mostly modern. We're hoping to add more period touches as time goes on, and eventually to build the carriage house/garage and a barn for the horses, and to pave the dirt-and-gravel driveway. Landscaping is being done a step at a time, with an herb garden having been started, though the work has been sporadic. One of the towers encloses a series of staircases that spiral from the basement to the attic. The rest serve as portions of rooms, or (in the attic) as storage space. The basement and attic are unfinished.

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A special thanks to Peggy J. Hicks / Mistress Bronwen o Gydweli for sending the photo and information.