HAUNTED HOUSES
From the most famous tales of murder and mayhem (like the Amityville Horror House) to lesser-known haunts across the country, these houses allegedly have ghosts that go bump in the night. They are not for sale, but they will send shivers down your spine.
The Ghosts of Christmas Past and “Presents” – Haunted Winterwood
This is a story about the ghosts of past and “presents” in haunted Winterwood Gift and Christmas Shoppe. It is part of our haunted house series and is Not for sale. Back in the day when I was a correspondent for the Cape May County Herald, South Jersey’s weekly newspaper, I wrote an article about Winterwood, New Jersey’s oldest Christmas shop. Winterwood is a magical place, not only filled with perfect gifts for all occasions, but as some may tell you, it is also filled with ghosts. One might think, with its twinkling lights, scents of cinnamon and apple, and thousands of Christmas baubles, that this might be the last place ghosts might wish to inhabit. Yet, perhaps that is exactly their attraction. The building itself is the oldest standing building in the town of Rio Grande, New Jersey. Built in 1722 as the Ephraim Hildreth Homestead, the house stood on its original land for 140 years on a plot next to its current location on Route 9. The style was known as a telescope home, but a fire of unknown date destroyed one of the three original sections. What is known is that spinster sisters Hester and Lucy Hildreth were the last of the Hildreth family to live in the home, having died in the home in 1949 and 1954 respectively. When the home was moved and became the Winterwood Gift and Christmas Shoppe in 1978, strange things began to happen. Stuffed animals placed in a circle on the floor, glass ornaments that hung on a tree the night before were found on steps the next morning, and heavy items just toppled off shelves. Footsteps could be heard on the second floor when no one was there, shadowy white figures have been seen in the shop and in the yard, and cherry pipe smoke has been smelled in the no-smoking establishment. Some thought the ghosts might be from the third section of the house that burned down, but no records of any fatalities exist. Family Bible records do show, however, that several family members were laid to rest in a small cemetery behind the house, and a number of Hildreth children tragically died young from fevers. I was told that another possibility involves a soldier who was hidden in the house by the Hildreth family after he defected from the British Army during the Revolutionary War. As local lore tells it, the wounded soldier carved a beautiful mantelpiece for the fireplace in appreciation for the care and shelter. The mantel still stands in the back room of the shop, and the sound of the soldier walking up and down the steps is still heard in the shop as well. Whether the hauntings are the Hildreth sisters, children or a soldier, the ghosts of Christmas past and present seem to be attracted to the candy canes, candles, glitter and gold of Winterwood.
Sauer Castle Property – Haunted House of Kansas City ~ Saved
Sauer Castle, Kansas City, Kansas UPDATE: The Sauer Castle Haunted House of Kansas City had its surrounding 11 acres currently up for auction according to a posting on the Unified Government’s website , as well as the house itself, in separate auctions. The properties were owned by Mr. Lopp, a descendant of the original Sauer family. The structure was sold and restoration efforts are now in progress. Rounding a curve on a winding, residential street, a red brick structure looms over the landscape. Set behind long lengths of chainlink fence, one gets a sense of foreboding as if the carved lions framing the doorway and the windows in the tower are watching us. It is the Sauer Castle. Sauer Family Anton Sauer came to the United States from Austria with his wife Francesca and five children in the 1860s. They first moved to New York City, but after Francesca died in 1868 and Anton’s tuberculosis worsened, he relocated to Kansas City. There he remarried, had more children (total of 12) and built his c.1871 mansion, the Sauer Castle. The Mansion Although the architect is not documented, it is thought that Asa Beebe Cross (1826-1894), whose work includes the Vaile Mansion and Gillis Opera House, may have designed the home. In any event, the first structure constructed built on the property was said to be a barn to house the materials for the massive house project. The now deserted mansion originally stood on 63 manicured acres with room for Anton’s vineyard, a winery, bakery and pergola for outdoor dining. He spared no expense in the interior of his opulent home, either. Ornate walnut doors with sandstone lions on either side lead one into a large foyer with a stunning staircase made with Rosewood spindles. Fourteen-foot ceilings, 12-foot windows and marble fireplaces graced the home. A wine cellar lay underneath and a music room sat adjacent to the parlor which had patterned wood floors covered with rich rugs. The dining room walls were hung with paintings of religious figures, and a system of bells on wires could be rung from every room in the house to call for the servants. Bedrooms were on the second floor, and the Sauer Mansion was one of the first homes in Kansas City to have running water. The servants quarters and children’s classroom was on the third floor, as was the entrance to the tower which afforded a spectacular view. The Lore Anton chose the location of his home because it reminded him of this hometown along the Rhine River in the Swiss Alps. With views of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, it was the ideal setting for his large family. Little did he realize, however, that the house was built smack in the middle of what was once the Shawnee Indian trail. That trail later became part of the old Santa Fe Trail through which many wagons passed on their journey west. In part due to traumatic events in the house, and partly due to its construction on ground where the Shawnee and settlers experienced hardships and adversity, some say the property is a hotbed of paranormal activity. Sadly, the house appeared to bring bad luck to its inhabitants. After Anton died, his wife and daughters continued to live in the castle. But after Anton’s infant great-granddaughter tragically drowned in the pool, two people committed suicide and several deaths of natural causes occurred in the house, rumors were sparked that the house was haunted. Disembodied voices were reported, including shouting, laughing and crying, while doors were known to open and slam shut on their own. People also indicated a creepy feeling of being watched and reported objects shaking violently. The Decline The Sauer family, however, kept residence in this once-gorgeous Italian-style Villa for five generations until 1954. After they sold it, the next owner, Paul Berry, only lived in a small section of the house. He often resorted to fighting vandals, thieves and curious trespassers off the property with his fierce three-legged dog. When Paul Berry died in 1985, the house was already in serious disrepair, but it fell into even more neglect and disintegration during the three years it lay vacant. Carl Lopp, a descendent of Anton Sauer and New York socialite, purchased the home in 1988. He had plans of converting the mansion into a bed and breakfast, but as an absentee owner, the roof began to leak and windows were broken. You would think that as a descendent, Loop would have at least maintained the home. Historical societies have even offered to fix it up or buy it and put the family name on it, but Loop was unwilling. Carl Lopp The years after Carl Lopp purchased the mansion saw the greatest deterioration of the home. He allowed no one inside the home, but the exterior’s broken windows, falling-down iron work and unkempt grounds could be seen from the street. In 1996, the “caretaker” was charged with stealing $30,000 worth of items from inside the house, including the crystal chandeliers. Soon after, Wyandotte County slapped an “unfit for habitation” notice on the home, and Carl Loop was found guilty of two housing court violations. His probation terms included that he pay the back taxes and come up with a plan to restore the mansion. A bench warrant was issued when he failed to do so. Lopp visited Kansas City in 1997 for this mother’s funeral and was promptly arrested. His lawyer wrangled an appeal, however, arguing that Lopp still was initiating plans to restore the home. Lopp continued to play cat and mouse with the city/county for many years. Whenever the home was up for auction for back taxes, he would wait until the last minute to pay the taxes. For 20 years, Lopp and his lawyers insisted he had plans to restore the home, but nothing ever came of it. The structure now lies abandoned and derelict. Apparently, the ghost stories have kept trespassers continuing to vandalize the house, and the insurance company will not cover the expenses.
The Haunted House of Prospect Place Ohio
With the slew of comments OHU50K receives about orbs and mysterious shadows in our featured photos, it seems some readers are fascinated with haunted houses. I haven’t decided if I am a believer or not in paranormal activity, but I do love researching old houses. Here is a haunted house story that intrigues me. NOTE: This house is NOT for sale. Prospect Place Trinway, Ohio After abolitionist George Willison Adams freed all his grandfather’s slaves and sold his Virginia plantation, he moved to Ohio. It is here, in the tiny town of Trinway, that Adams became one of the wealthiest men in the state, building bridges and canals and owning two flour mills. He eventually built his 29-room Greek Revival/Italianate mansion called Prospect Place in 1856. It was in the basement of this mansion, that Adams provided safe refuge for slaves who had escaped the South. Prospect Place, in fact, was one of the largest stations of the Underground Railroad in the state of Ohio, and its cupola would shine a light alerting slaves of its safe harbor. Adams died in 1879, leaving his vast estate to heirs who squandered it all away by the mid 1950s. Abandoned and falling prey to vandals, the mansion was slated for demolition in the 1980s before Dave Longaberger, founder of Longaberger Basket Co. of Ohio, rescued it. Today, Prospect Place has the reputation of counting as one of the most haunted places in Ohio. The spirits of slaves are said to linger in the home as well as that of train accident victims who were brought to the home when the basement was used as a temporary hospital. The footsteps and laughter of a young girl who suffered a fatal accident in the mansion is said to be heard throughout the house, and the ghost of George Adams himself has been seen periodically in the staircase of an upper floor. William Cox, Adams’ son-in-law who had a large part in squandering Adams’ estate, is the creepiest ghost in this ghost story. He mysteriously disappeared after absconding with Adams’ daughter Anna’s inheritance, never to be seen again. Some believe the house, angry at having fallen into disrepair due to Cox’s theft of monies, keeps his soul captive to pay eternal retribution at the scene of his crime.
The Sallie House – The Most Haunted House in Kansas?
Atchison’s Sallie House may be considered the most famous haunted house in Kansas. We delve into it in this in our Halloween series of haunted houses. (This house is NOT for sale). Finney History Built between 1867 and 1871, the brick home was the residence of Michael, a native of Ireland, and Kate Finney. Michael died in the house in 1872, and it was passed down to the couple’s son, Charles Finney. After graduating medical school and setting up his practice, Charles also took up figure skating. He was both a skilled figure skater and roller skater who often dressed in drag during his act. He won many competitions before giving up the sport after being denied entrance to an all-male skating competition due to his gender-bending act. Charles then devoted all his efforts to his medical practice, and was by all accounts a proficient physician. In 1914 he was elected mayor of Atchison and served for two years before being forced to step down in 1916 due to a scandal involving the sale of alcohol. The Sallie Event Charles used the whole bottom floor of his house at 508 N 2nd Street for his medical practice. The front served as office space and examination rooms, while the doctor and his wife and son lived upstairs. Although no records of a patient named Sallie exist in Dr. Finney’s records, as the story goes, one day a frantic mother came running into the office holding her 6-year-old daughter, Sallie. The child was in severe abdominal pain. Dr. Finney diagnosed appendicitis, and believing the appendix would soon burst, immediately began surgery. He grabbed his scalpel and began cutting Sallie before the anesthesia had taken full effect. Sallie’s screams resonated throughout the block, then suddenly stopped. She died on the operating table – her last memories believing a man was torturing her. The House Next Door It should be noted that the house next door to Dr. Finney’s also is connected to the Sallie House hauntings. The house next door was built in 1889 by James Finney, the older brother of Charles. James deeded it to a woman named Johanna Barnes, a divorced mother of three and pregnant with a fourth child. Johanna had been previously institutionalized as “violently insane,” and gave birth in 1899 to Frank Barnes while in the institution. Eventually she was released to the care of Dr. Finney and returned to the house next door to him. On September 24, 1906 Johanna attempted suicide. She turned on the gas stove and laid down with Frank, who was five years old at the time. Both were overcome by the fumes, but while Johanna survived, little Frank did not. Hauntings at the Sallie House After the events at both houses, locals have long believed the homes were haunted. The Sallie House hauntings grew more ominous, however, in 1993, when the house was rented to a young couple, Tony and Debra Pittman, and their infant son. Their dog seemed to growl at nothing, most notably near the upstairs nursery, cold spots were felt throughout the house, and things started moving on their own. Matters took a turn for the worse when fires broke out in the house and a series of attacks on Tony began. Tony, who claims to be a clairvoyant, felt scratches on his chest and abdomen. Debra and the baby never came to harm as they identified more with Sallie rather than the more sinister spirits that may occupy the two properties. Paranormal activity that has been witnessed by visitors to the Sallie House include video cameras that stop working, moving objects, bruises on their bodies, and new batteries that completely drain. There has even been books and videos about the house. So Who Are the Ghosts? Some say the spirit of Michael Finney, the original owner who died in the house shortly after its completion, may be the culprit. Others believe the insane ghost of Johanna Barnes stalks the properties. Still others say Sallie, or even young Frank, show their presence on the old Finney land. A few even have come to the conclusion that it is Dr. Finney (d.1955) himself who haunts the Sallie House, angry about his skating and mayoral careers that were cut short.
Ohio’s Most Famous Haunted House ~ Franklin Castle
This is part of our Haunted House series for the month of October – Halloween month. Note: This house is NOT for sale. Considered to be the “most haunted house in Ohio,” Franklin Castle in Cleveland, Ohio, may well deserve that label ….. or perhaps not. The imposing stone Queen Anne Victorian was built in 1881-1883 by the successful Cudell and Richardson architectural for Hannes Tiedemann, a German immigrant and founder of the Euclid Ave Savings and Trust. Located at Franklin Boulevard and West 44th Street, the four-story, 20-room mansion was located on one of the most prestigious streets in the city at the time. According to different accounts, Tiedemann was either a saint who built his upscale house not only for his family, but also to share with friends, family and others emigrating from Germany to stay when they first arrived in Cleveland, or a cruel, vindictive man who took pleasure abusing others. When a string of mysterious deaths in the Tiedemann family occurred, rumors circulated that Tiedemann’s dark side was his true personality. Deaths Daughter Emma died from diabetes at the age of 15 in 1881. Soon after, Tiedemann’s elderly mother, Wiebeka, died. Tiedemann and his wife Louise would bury three more young children over the years, giving rise to rumors that there was more to their deaths than met the eye. As a distraction for his wife from these terrible events, Tiedemann hired a firm to begin extensive construction on the home, adding a ballroom, turrets and gargoyles. Louise Tiedemann, however, died from a liver disease in 1895, at the age of 57, and the following year, Hannes sold the house to the Mullhauser family. That was not before speculation that he had murdered a niece named Karen, a servant girl named Rachel and a mistress while living in the Franklin Boulevard castle. By 1908, the entire Tiedemann nuclear family were dead, leaving no direct heirs to inherit Hannes’ significant personal wealth. Hauntings From 1921 to 1968, the house saw a series of owners, until James Romano, his wife, and six children settled in the home. The family reported several ghostly encounters in their new home. They even brought priests in to attempt exorcisms and had a now-defunct ghost-hunting group investigate the paranormal activity of the castle. Per newspaper accounts, Mrs. Romano was warned that the house was evil and that her family should move out. By 1974, the Romanos sold the house to Sam Muscatello, who planned to turn it into a church. As fundraisers to complete his plan, Muscatello offered haunted house tours and overnight stays at tFranklin Castle. Human bones were discovered in a closet in 1975 but many believe they were planted by Muscatello in order to gain publicity for his ghost tours. Saint or Sinner? It seems unlikely that the ghosts of the Tiedemann children would be haunting the Franklin Castle. The Tiedemann family did not move into the home until until 1883, and both Emma and Wiebeka died in 1881. Wilhemine, Ernst and Albert died as infants in the 1870s, and August and Dora passed away in 1906, long after the family had moved out of the house. The niece Karen and servant girl Rachel, both speculated to have been murdered by Hannes, never existed. So what do you think? Was Hannes Tiedemann a saint or sinner? Later In 1984, Judy Garland’s last husband, Michael DeVinko, purchased the castle and made major renovations. Over the next decade, he spent almost one million dollars renovating it, even tracking down some of the original furnishings. Devinko claimed the existence of poltergeists. He sold it in 1994, and the house remained empty until 1999. A couple of fires damaged part of the house and carriage house over the next 20 years, but the latest owner has plans to divide the property into three units. It is privately owned, but tours may drive by.
The Haunted Whaley House
The Whaley House in San Diego, California, is often referred to as one of the most haunted houses in America. The Haunted Whaley House has a rich history, with several tragic events associated with it, which have led to numerous claims of paranormal activity. This house is Not for sale but for informational/entertainment value only. The Whaley House was originally built in 1857 by Thomas Whaley, a prominent San Diego resident. The house served as both a residence for the Whaley family and a general store. However, even before the house was built, the land had a dark history. It was the site of public gallows where several criminals were executed, including “Yankee Jim” Robinson, who was hanged on the property in 1852. Yankee Jim Robinson Yankee Jim was actually a French Canadian. Per the Los Angeles Herald, he murdered and robbed men at mining camps to steal their gold. It was the theft of a boat, however, that led him to be hung at the gallows. He is buried one block from the Whaley House. Thomas Whaley had attended the execution, and soon after purchased that very same land. It was here he built the Whaley House. Soon after the Whaleys moved into the house, footsteps sounding like the boots of a man began to be heard by the inhabitants. Thomas Whaley began to believe the footfalls were made by the spirit of Yankee Jim Robinson. Whaley told family members that Yankee Jim had been hung right where the arch in the home stood. Family Tragedies Baby Thomas Over the years, the Whaley family experienced several tragedies within the house. The first person to die in the home was young Thomas Whaley, Jr. In 1858, at just 18-months old, the baby passed away in an upstairs bedroom from scarlet fever. It has been said that the cries of a baby can be heard in the house to this day. Not long after the death of Baby Thomas, a fire destroyed much of Mr. Whaley’s general store. The family had had enough, so they relocated to San Francisco where Thomas ansd his wife had three more children. The Whaley Huse called them back to their old home in San Diego, however, after the 1868 San Francisco Earthquake. Violet Elosie Whaley One of the most notable incidents In the Whaley household involved the suicide of Violet Whaley, Thomas Whaley’s granddaughter. She had married George Bertolacci in a double wedding ceremony with her sister Anna Amelia in 1882. It seems that George, however, was a con artist who married Violet for her money. He left her after only one year of marriage. Violet lost her will to live and attempted to take her own life by jumping off the house into the cistern. That attempt failed, but later that year she took her father’s pistol and shot herself in the chest in the outhouse. Her father heard the gunshot and rushed his daughter inside the house where she died 10 minutes later without saying a word. She was only 22 years of age. It was too much for the family to bear, so in 1885, the family moved to another house at 933 State Street in San Diego. These tragic events, combined with the house’s connection to the gallows, have contributed to the reputation of the Whaley House as being haunted. Visitors and residents alike have reported various paranormal occurrences within the house. These reported experiences include hearing disembodied footsteps, seeing apparitions, and witnessing objects moving on their own. The ghost of Violet, in particular, has been seen crying in both the outhouse and the second level of the Whaley House. Such claims of paranormal activity have attracted the attention of paranormal investigators and enthusiasts, leading to the Whaley House being featured in numerous television shows and documentaries focusing on hauntings. The house is now a popular tourist attraction, operated as a museum by the Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), which preserves its historical significance and offers guided tours to visitors. While the Whaley House’s haunted reputation has been subject to skepticism and debate, it remains an intriguing part of San Diego’s history and continues to captivate the curiosity of those interested in the supernatural.