Few dwellings in the Nashville area are richer in diversity or more rampant of rumor than The Castle on Old Hillsboro Road. Sheathed in majesty, myth and legend, it has shuttled between a point of both elegant and sinister interest in Williamson County since it was built in 1930.
The sauciest Castle legend is that it was built by Al Capone as a stop-off between his Chicago and Florida “businesses.” It’s mostly true. Construction was overseen by Jack Welch, a Capone lieutenant. Welch and his wife operated the casino covertly for years and out in the open for one decadent night ending its career as a high-society gamble-a-rama. In its hand-carved stone walkway there are stones emblazoned with diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades and a roulette wheel.
Beyond its birth as a casino, it has been a spectacular restaurant, a riding academy (more than once), a splashy private home, and a world-renowned recording studio. The resume of residents is as culturally diverse as the quintessentially remarkable architecture itself.
Music City Business
Franklin Art Scene | Celebrating Color & Community
Nashville Public Radio | Music to Our Ears
John Reed | A Road Through the South