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| Alan St. George and Joshua Allen Milford in front of the Honor & Glory clock in the Memorial Hall at Havencrest Castle |
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| The mansion that would eventually become Havencrest Castle |
The St. George's were a couple deeply in love with each other since their early teens. Their devotion manifested itself in a passionately creative outpouring of work and lifestyle that at times seemed to blur fantasy and reality. Over their 30 years in the home together, Alan and Adrianne expanded the original 22 rooms to 63. They planned and executed every major and minor detail of the many themed rooms without the aid of an architect or designer. Havencrest is filled with original art and sculptures, created by Alan, inspired by Adrianne.
Adrianne and Alan loved the Victorian and Edwardian periods. This naturally led to a keen interest in the RMS Titanic, the great ship of the Edwardian Age, and in particular its Grand Staircase and First-class appurtenances.
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| The Memorial Hall at Havencrest Castle |
Havencrest Castle's Memorial Hall is the only place in the world where you can see full-sized historically accurate replicas of sculptures from RMS Titanic's First-class Grand Staircase and Dining Saloon, including a complete replica of the famous clock.
In March of 1998, the St. Georges held a Titanic-themed sit-down dinner for 20 guests in their home, recreating the actual First-class Dining Saloon's menu. A 3-foot model of the ship adorned the center of the table, surrounded by flowers, and each guest took home Titanic coal to remember the evening. Titanic survivor, Eleanor Shuman, living in St. Charles, Illinois, was invited to attend. Sadly, in the two-week period between the invitations going out, and the date of the dinner, Eleanor passed away. Adrianne St. George related this to the guests at the dinner and asked for a moment of silence in Eleanor's honor.
It was in this period that Alan began his first 1:2 scale replica of Charles Wilson's famous Titanic clock, and he finished it in 1999. Adrianne immediately threw a dinner party celebrating the sculpture, and even had a cake made with the clock's image in the icing! Since then, Alan has sculpted the clock three more times in various sizes including the full-scale version on display in Havencrest's Memorial Hall.
Adrianne St. George passed away on June 1, 2006. Alan used to say,
"When Adrianne entered a room, the lights and music went on, and when she left, the lights and music went out."
After a five-year period of mourning and healing, Alan's creative inspiration returned. He completed the last of the 24 life-sized figures for the ballroom, and then made turn to contemporary art, producing 21 tabletop bronze and aluminum sculptures.
In 2018, Alan St. George opened the castle to visitors. In just 8 days 2,773 enthusiastic guests passed through the massive iron gates to take the self-guided tour of the castle. Seeing those happy faces for himself, Alan declared his determination to work out a way for his home to be open to visitors in May and October every year.
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| Havencrest Castle in Savanna, Illinois |