Millennium Manor Alcoa Tennessee

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Lies, Legends and Unlikely Stories about Millennium Manor

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W.A. and son, Andrew

Darby's Castle
This name for the castle comes from a song written by Kris Kristoferson and recorded in 1973. It was recorded again in 1978 by the "Knoxville Grass" as a title track with a picture of Millennium Manor on the album cover. People put the picture and title together, assumed that they were the same, and started calling the place "Darbys Castle." "Millennium Manor" seems to be a name coined by syndicated columnist Hal Boyle in his widely published 1957 article about the castle. As far as I can tell, Mr. Nicholson never named the place. This is the oldest name I can find, so I'm sticking with it.

"Mr. Nicholson was a mean old recluse who worked his wife to death."
From what I can tell, the place was a virtual playground for neighborhood kids. Visitors were welcomed and he would discuss religion if asked, but he didn't volunteer information. He

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Andrew Nicholson, son of
builder, W.A. Nicholson

and Mrs. Nicholson were married in their teens and were quite affectionate toward one another. After she died there may have been a rift between him and his grown children, but he was still friendly to everyone else. After his wife's death, Mr. Nicholson lived downstairs and rented out the upstairs of Millennium Manor.

"Mrs. Nicholson was buried in the downstairs 'Dungeon'."
Mrs. Nicholson actually died in the white frame house, and she was buried in a cemetery within days.

"He planned to live here with God forever."
He never said that God would live in this house, or that he would live "forever," but I believe that he really did think he would live there for 1000 years. Several clues support this. As one example, he planted the uncommon "Bitter Orange" bush. This is the only citrus plant that will reliably grow north of Georgia, and the fruit of this bush will help prevent scurvy. The well and garden, among other things, point to an attempt at self-sufficiency.