Chicago's Last Standing Irish-Style Castle, Built 1886
10244 South Longwood Drive, Chicago, IL 60643
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to view from the public sidewalk. Open House Chicago and special tours have variable admission.
Access
Limited Access
Paved sidewalk; the castle interior has multiple levels and original stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1886 · Chicago Landmark · National Register of Historic Places · Chicago's Last Standing Castle · Open House Chicago Annual Site
Robert Cornelius Givins, born in Ontario in 1845, made his fortune as a Chicago real estate developer in the post-Fire boom decades. Between 1886 and 1887, he built a limestone castle on the Tracy Subdivision he had been developing in what is now the Beverly neighborhood. The structure is a scaled-down replica of the Irish-castle vernacular, with crenellated parapets, a corner tower, and rough-cut limestone walls.
Givins lived in the castle with his wife Emma Steen Givins, a Chicago schoolteacher of Norwegian descent. The popular legend that the castle was a memorial gift to a deceased Irish fiancée is undocumented in primary sources. There is no historical record that Givins traveled to Ireland before construction. The castle was built as a residence, not a memorial.
The building changed hands several times in the early twentieth century. The Beverly Unitarian Church purchased the property in 1942 for $14,000 and has used it as the congregation's permanent home since then. The church installed sanctuary fittings on the main level while preserving the structure's exterior and most of its original interior detail.
The castle is recognized by the Chicago Landmarks Commission and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It participates annually in Open House Chicago, the city's largest architecture-focused public event.
Sources
The most cited paranormal account at the castle is also the earliest. In the 1960s, a church custodian working alone in the building reported encountering a young girl in a long, period-style dress in one of the upper rooms. The custodian described her as solid and ordinary in appearance. She remarked on how different the place looked from when she had lived there. When the custodian turned away briefly and looked back, she was gone. The account is preserved in church oral history.
Neighbors and passersby on Longwood Drive have reported seeing a candle-like point of light moving across the castle windows at night and ascending the staircase visible through the corner-tower windows when the building is unoccupied.
A pastor of the congregation reported being touched by unseen arms during a quiet moment in the sanctuary. Several accounts describe the sound of clinking flatware and glassware, as if from a dinner party, heard from the empty main level after evening events.
The popular Irish-fiancée legend, that the castle was built as a memorial to a young Irishwoman who died before joining Givins in Chicago, is not supported by historical record. Givins's wife Emma was alive when the castle was built and lived in it with him. The legend has nonetheless circulated for generations in Chicago folklore and has been retold by both haunted-tour material and local newspaper coverage.
Notable Entities
View the 1886 Irish-castle replica from the public sidewalk on Longwood Drive in the Beverly neighborhood. The crenellated limestone tower rises directly above the residential street and is among Chicago's most photographed Victorian-era buildings. The castle is also home to the Beverly Unitarian Church.
The Givins Beverly Castle participates in the annual Open House Chicago festival each October, when the interior is opened to the public for self-guided viewing. Outside the festival, interior access is generally limited to congregation events and occasional architectural tours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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