Haunted Iowa Road Trip: Part 2

 

Today I traveled to Des Moines to shoot photos of the stunning Terrace Hall. This house is gorgeous! The Second Empire architecture defiantly gives it a presence and what many may consider a classic haunted house look. 

This house was my first stop but I was frustrated by the lack of clouds during that time of day and to may people moving around. After I got some images I went and shot my second house, looked through a large cemetery and then grabbed lunch. While looking for a place to eat I noticed the clouds began to move in so I decided  to return and shoot some more images. I'm glad I did because the images where much better and no people around.

The hardest part about doing this project is figuring out what the best time is to shoot these places. During season of operation or off season, morning or afternoon, spring, summer or fall. It can be very frustrating when you look forward  to shooting a place and to learn that it's under construction when you get there.

Built for the Dead, Stickney Mansion - Bull Valley, Illinois

Since I was a child I've heard legends about the "mansion with no corners." For years I thought it was all a myth, until I researched for this project and found that the mansion does exist and the legends are true. When we found and stood on the grounds of the mansion a few years ago, a chill ran up my spine as I thought about the story associated with this mysterious house.

Both accomplished mediums and devout practitioners of Spiritualism, George and Sylvia Stickney built this unusual two-story house in 1836 on an isolated country highway in Bull Valley, Illinois, thinking this corner-less design would assist them when holding séances and gatherings at the property. The couple had twelve children but only three survived to adulthood; they would often try to contact their nine dead children during their séances.

The Stickneys' believed that spirits have an inclination of getting stuck in the corners of houses, producing terrible results. They also felt that having a 90 degree angle corner would attract evil spirits. Therefore, all the rooms in their mansion have round smooth corners except one. For some unknown reason this room accidentally ended up with a 90-degree measurement.

According to legend, George Stickney was one day discovered slumped to the floor, dead from an apparent heart failure next to the only corner in the house located in that very mysterious room.

Reports claim Sylvia Stickney continued to live in the house as an accomplished spirit medium. People from all over the world come to take part in séances upstairs in the converted ballroom.

In the 1970s, Rodrick Smith moved in and began to hear strange noises and his dog began to exhibit strange behavior. After awhile Smith became more and more uncomfortable in the house and decided to research the home. According to Smith's findings, satanic worship took place in the mansion during the sixties and the black magic rituals conjured up an evil presence which resides in the house. Other researchers feel it was hippies during that time that changed the atmosphere of the house with drug use and painting the rooms dark colors, spray painting messages and leaving their abandoned drugs after they left.

The mansion was later sold and the Village of Bull Valley police department moved in as their headquarters. The police have reported hearing footsteps in the ballroom area, formally the séance chamber. Disembodied voices and strange noises have been heard on the stairwell and through out the house several times. Objects have moved on their own, door knobs have been seen turning on their own. Lone workers have seen and heard doors opening and closing on their own when no one else was in the building. One police officer saw the apparition of what he later described as Stickney's father-in-law. Two police officers have quit due to the disturbances that take place in this bizarre house.

Further research into town cemetery records often yield different facts to the dates in this story, but little else is recorded of this time. We have the old legends and the stories from the mansion's modern-day occupants to work from on our journey. Most important of the details, is the fact that the reputation of the house is firmly based in the Stickneys' practice Spiritualism and the regular attempts to commune with the spirits who have passed on into the beyond.

The day we arrived to visit the mansion two springs ago was bright, warm, and friendly. On the grounds of the mansion, however, the air was still and tense. The home felt isolated on its road winding off of the main road through town. Walking around the mansion, we felt uneasy staring into the black windows as if the house was watching us. The very look of this odd house makes one feel uncomfortable, which shouldn't be a surprise since it was built specifically to talk to the dead. Perhaps the spirits still wander freely through its rooms and corridors waiting to make their presence known.

Spring Haunted Road Trip

During the winter months we spend much of our time researching and looking for new ideas and places to photograph. We find inspiration from many sources from music, movies, stories and converstions we have with others. So when the snow starts to melt, weather begins to warm-up and the grass begins to turn green we get very excited because another season of photographing haunted places begins. At the beginning of the year our trip had taken on many forms and not until recently we decided on certain places that would work for our schedule. We have found some new and wonderful mansions to photograph they are just beautiful and mysterious from the pictures we have seen. I don't want to revel to much detail on where we will go, but you will not be disappointed by them I assure you. Here is a few place we are wanting to go to. If any one has suggestions of places that would be great for us to photograph feel free to send us an email with a picture and a bit of the history (if you know it) behind the place. We would love to see it and included in it in upcoming trips.

Lincoln-Tallman House, Janesville - WI

Jacob Henry Mansion, Joliet - IL

Hegeler-Carus Mansion, LaSalle - IL

Summerwind Mansion, Wisconsin

Considered the most notorious haunted house in the state of Wisconsin, Summerwind mansion is steeped in legend and mystery. Many purchasers reported an unease about the property even though even if they had never experienced any ghostly activity themselves. Now a burned-out ruin among the pines of the Northwoods, the former mansion has gained a cult following, becoming a place for those looking to experience bizarre phenomena themselves.

Built in 1916 by Robert P. Lamont for himself and his family on the shores of West Bay Lake in northeast Wisconsin, the mansion was an escape from the pressures of political life in Washington D.C. during the summer months. The original structure, a fishing lodge, was purchased by Lamont, who employed Chicago architects to remodel the property and convert it into a mansion.

During his 15 years at the mansion Lamont believed the structure was haunted. Lamont suddenly abandoned the mansion in the mid 1930s after one particularly frightening evening. He and his wife had just settled down to an evening meal in the kitchen, when the door to the basement shook itself open and a ghostly form of a man appeared. Lamont grabbed a pistol and fired two shots at the apparition as door swung shut. Holes in the basement door could still be seen many years later after the home came under new ownership.

From the 1940s to the 60s the house was owned by the Keefer family but remained largely unoccupied. When Mr. Keefer died his widow subdivided the land and sold it to purchasers but they experienced financial difficulties in keeping up payments.

When Arnold and Ginger Hinshaw and family moved to the house in the early 1970s many strange occurrences began to unfold and much of the haunting seemed to take place during this time. Shadows would be seen moving down the hallways, whispers would be heard but then stop when the Hinshaws entered the room, unexplained electrical and mechanical problems often occurred at the home, windows and doors would open and close by themselves. One window raised and lowered so often at all hours that Arnold nailed it shut. An apparition of a woman would appear near the dining room.

During this time the Hinshaws tried to renovate their historic home but had trouble keeping workers because Summerwind gained a reputation for being haunted. Workers would not show up for work, usually claiming illness, a few of them simply outright refused to work. The Hinshaws decided to do the work themselves. During the renovation, Arnold was painting a closet in one of the bedrooms and removed a shoe drawer from a closet. He discovered a hidden dark space behind it. When Arnold investigated the space he thought he saw the remains of an animal. The entrance to this space was too small for him to fit into so he sent his daughter Mary with a flashlight to investigate. Moments later Mary let out a scream and claimed discovering a human skull and strands of black hair. For some reason no report was made to the police. The body mysteriously vanished when Ginger's father and brother investigated the space many years later. The discovery of the corpse marked a turning point for the family. Arnold began display strange behavior, staying up late at night playing their Hammond organ that they purchased before moving into the house. The music became a strange mixture of senseless melodies which grew louder during the night. Ginger pleaded for him to stop but Arnold claimed the demons in his head demanded that he continue to play. He often played the bizarre music until dawn as his frightened wife and children took refuge in one of the bedrooms. Six months after moving into the house, Arnold suffered a breakdown and Ginger attempted suicide.

Several years later Ginger's father, Raymond Von Bober, bought Summerwind and wanted to turn the house into a restaurant. The Von Bobers' attempts to renovate the house suffered the same problems as the Hinshaws' years ago. Von Bober's son Karl experienced a variety of unnerving events. While walking through a hallway he heard a voice call his name, but he was the only one in the house. Then he heard what heard what sounded like two pistol shots and ran into the kitchen to find the room filled with smoke and the smell of gunpowder, an apparent supernatural reenactment from the 1930s Lamont incident.

During Von Bober's renovations workmen also began to report uneasiness as tools began to disappear. Furnishings appeared in photographs, which had not been existence since the original owners had possession of the home. Room dimensions appeared to change in these photographs and as draftspeople tried to produce blueprints of rooms.

By the 1980s the mansion was abandoned for good. People visiting during this time reported seeing objects flying around, disappearing and reappearing, and photographs would have odd shadows in them. Some experienced seeing the mansion as it would have appeared in earlier times.

In June 1988 the mansion was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. All that survived was the house's chimney stacks, foundations, and stone staircase.

For us the house seemed to retain its sense of mystery. On our first trip to explore and photograph the house we never found it, despite being within several yards of the ruin. A few days later after further research we decided to try again. This time we found it and we felt a sense of sadness and abandonment contrasting the pleasant sunny day, as we approached the ruin. The chimneys stood like tombstones against the sky, an epitaph to its former glory. The dull buzzing sounds of the spring hatching of flies on the mansion grounds added to the eerie atmosphere. As we walked around the ruin among the weeds and wild growing trees, Anna and I photographed and talked about the house, how sad that such a grand home had become so desolate. In spite of the walls having burned down long ago, the house seemed to retain its sense of volume. The weed-covered foundation and archways that still remain hinted to a grander time. We both wondered why no one has tried since the 1980s to clear the land and rebuilt another home.
This reminded us of TS Eliot:

In my beginning is my end. In succession
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,
Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place
Is an open field, or a factory, or a by-pass.
Old stone to new building, old timber to new fires,
Old fires to ashes, and ashes to the earth
Which is already flesh, fur and faeces,
Bone of man and beast, cornstalk and leaf.
Houses live and die: there is a time for building
And a time for living and for generation
And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane
And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots
And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.
- excerpt from EAST COKER
(No. 2 of 'Four Quartets')
T.S. Eliot

Fairlawn Mansion, Superior WI

In early October, 2009, Anna and I drove to the northern part of the state for a competitive run. Ashland, a small former fishing and shipping hub on Lake Superior, was about two hours away and made for a long but enjoyable drive to a part of the state that I hadn't seen much of.

With the race's popularity, we were unable to gain a hotel close to the race area so we had to stay in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. For dinner we took part in a regional tradition, a fish boil, afterward caught Zombieland at a local 80's era movie house, then went to bed.

We woke to two inches of snow and a frantic drive back into Wisconsin along the lakeshore to the race staging area. Anna ran and she did a fantastic job, her fastest and best time yet, despite the very cold weather. After two hours standing in the cold to cheer her on, I warmed up while we got her metal engraved. We loaded into the car and continued northwest along the coastline to Bayfield, another small town along Lake Superior, known for the Apostle Islands and its history as an important fishing and shipping village, similar to Ashland. Between the two towns we stopped in an artist town, to pick up two very flaky turnovers from a small bakery and browse an interesting second-hand store. There we picked through the costumes and vintage clothes, coming away with two plastic dime-store Halloween masks from the 70's, which now hang in our kitchen. We visited the local shops and artist studios after arriving in Bayfield. Then as the light outside grew dim we decided to take a Ghost tour. We hoped to find some information about other haunted places to photograph. The guide had a knack for story-telling, which helped us forget about the biting lake-wind tearing through the town as we wandered from street to street hearing the tales of haunted Bayfield. Disappointingly, the tour guide made vague references to each place to protect homeowners who frowned upon ghost-seekers.

After the bitter-cold walk on the hour and a half tour we headed in the car towards Superior, just east of Minnesota exactly on the border, to meet up with friends and find our hotel. On the way we both talked about photographing the Victorian mansion, rumored to be haunted, in town the next morning. We arrived and settled in for the night. Upon waking, we asked the hotel staff for directions to coffeehouses or Starbucks to help start our day. The person at the front desk of the hotel suggested the Red Mug Espresso. We drove off into Superior.

Finding the place was a bit tricky since it was located on a lower level of the Trade and Commerce Marketplace, formerly the police station and jail. The Red Mug was wonderful, filled with artwork by local artists and a stage for music on certain nights. We both ordered a drink and talked about the events of the weekend. The coffee was so well brewed Anna ordered a second. After the coffee kicked in, we headed towards the mansion we wanted to see and photograph.

We arrived at the mansion and were immediately impressed by its size and Queen Anne style of architecture. We could not enter the house due to a tour at the time so we were unable to view the 42 rooms feature in the home. We walked around the lawn taking pictures, trying to include the four-story turret that loomed overhead. With the prominent porch, steeply gabled roof, and use of contrasting colors and textures the beauty of the house struck us.

Built in 1891 for wealthy lumber and mining baron Martin Pattison and family, Fairlawn sits on the shore overlooking Lake Superior. After Martin’s death in 1918, wife Grace Pattison donated the mansion to the Superior Children’s Home and Refuge Association and was turned into an orphanage. The mansion served as an orphanage for about 42 years, after which the City of Superior purchased Fairlawn in 1963 for demolition in accordance with Grace Pattison’s will. Fortunately civic leaders and members of the Pattison family were able to save the mansion due to a legal loophole and turned it into a city owned museum.

Visitors taking tours of the house have reported seeing a woman dressed in period clothing guiding them to specific displays then vanishing, leaving a cold damp chill in the air. Many believe it’s a servant girl that was murdered by her husband shortly after leaving the mansion. Some feel she haunts Fairlawn Mansion because it was the one place she felt happiest in her life. The ghosts of two children have been seen and heard in the basement. No records indicate that any children died in the house; some feel they may have accidentally drowned during the time the mansion served as an orphanage. Records have remained sealed by the county.

Brumder Mansion-Milwaukee, WI

Walking down Grand Avenue in Milwaukee a century ago would have taken you through a neighborhood of Victorian mansions situated a convenient distance from the shore of Lake Michigan. Most of the homes have long since vanished, giving way to the sprawl of the city, with little evidence to the history of how Milwaukee began. Only a few homes remain of this era; the Brumder Mansion is one such home where history still resides and sometimes interacts with visitors.

Standing gracefully on its corner serving visitors to Milwaukee as a Bed and Breakfast the Brumder Mansion is on what is now known as West Wisconsin Avenue. This stately, 4 story brick Victorian, English Arts and Crafts style mansion, has survived years of indifference and neglect.

Far more imposing than the exterior is the opulent renovated interior. The first floor dining room features a stunning, handcrafted stained glass tile fireplace, designed by Neideken, a Frank Lloyd Wright protégé. The oak Gothic style main staircase leads to the second floor that features 3 bedrooms, and to another staircase. This secondary staircase leads to the third floor to an additional 3 rooms used as servant’s quarters and innkeeper's apartment. Mr. Brumder placed the requisite ballroom in the large basement instead of on the customary third floor.

The suites have beautifully wood-carved fireplaces, marble in the bathrooms, intricate woodwork and antiques. One such room, The Gold Suite on the second floor, is named for its gold and yellow decor. The suite has a Victorian parlor set of furniture, an antique Queen-sized bed, elegant draperies and an oak ornamental fireplace with fluted columns.

Built in 1910 by the prominent businessman George Brumder for his eldest son George Jr., this regal home served a wealthy Milwaukee publishing family as a residence for nearly 10 years. The family’s fortune grew from a number of German language newspapers, bibles, and sheet music, and then later shifted to banking and manufacturing. The mansion was sold in the early 1920's, to Sam Picks, providing refuge from his work in Chicago gangster organizations.

With upkeep on the mansion being excessive, the house served as a boarding house in the late 30's; then in the 1960's the neighboring Lutheran Church bought the Brumder. By 1997, the upkeep and repair work needed for the house presented a major challenge for the church. Carol Hirschi, willing to move into the now derelict neighborhood, bought the Brumder, along with its physical and otherworldly, challenges.With the mansion in a state of disrepair and institutional in appearance, Carol began the painstaking task of transforming the Brumder Mansion into what is seen today. Hirschi generated income for the renovations by converting the building into a Bed and Breakfast in 1998.

Carol Hirschi believed multiple ghosts are haunting the house with most of the activity centered on the Gold Suite. A visiting psychic confirmed Carol's impressions when she reported seeing the ghost of a woman and a child. Several experiences made Hirschi more familiar with these two entities.

The first night Carol spent in the Gold Suite with her dogs in the bed, she felt a presence and heard a stern voice in her head demanding her to remove the dogs immediately. In another instance she dreamt of a face of a woman staring down at her from one of the home's ornate ceiling medallions.

The most frightening of the bizarre experiences in the Gold Suite happened when Carol entered the room several days after someone checked out, to find several drops of fresh blood in the bathtub. Thinking blood was leaking through the ceiling and someone had died in an upstairs room, she went to investigate but found nothing.

Guests staying in The Gold Suite sometimes have intense dreams. If they have a dog in the room, they often dream of a woman sternly lecturing them to remove their pets or harm will come to them. Upon waking, patrons are filled with a strong desire to remove the animals. Guests have been locked out of the room even though the deadbolt of the door locks from the inside of the room. A German marriage certificate in a large frame with a sturdy wire on the back was hung on the wall; it mysteriously lifted itself off the wall and crashed face down onto the floor, cracking the glass. Upon closer inspection nothing was found to be wrong with the wire or the nails it was hung upon.

The woman is thought to be Susan, a maiden aunt, who came to live with the Brumder family when they moved into this mansion. As a young woman, her betrothed stood her up at the altar; something she never quite recovered from. Susan, also known as Aunt Pussy, spent a number of happy years living in the mansion on the second floor, now known as The Gold Suite. She loved simple furnishings, and followed an uncomplicated way of life. The visiting psychic conveyed a message to Hirschi that Aunt Pussy expressed her displeasure about the fancy furnishings in the renovation, and that she had trouble adjusting to the commotion associated with the Bed and Breakfast.

The second phantom sensed by the psychic, the young girl, may perhaps be the victim of disease or accidental death. She is believed to occasionally haunt the third floor and Emma's Room. Hirschi believed the more mischievous activity can be attributed to the ghost of the child. Carol once purchased a mirror and hung it over the sink of Gold Suite's bathroom. One day the mirror lifted itself off its nail, floated over to the bathtub and was shattered into shards.

Other areas in the homes also experience disturbances. In George's Room a staff member felt a cool breeze brush past her face and hair, billow the curtain, as it drafted through the room with no logical explanation. Guests will often hear objects moving in the bathroom. Silverware laid out on the dining room table the night before would be found turned around on the table the next morning. Guests and patrons of the little theater in the basement began seeing the entity of a woman, dressed in early 20th century clothing drifting through. A friend of Carol's saw a woman in a formal black dress float down the main staircase. In The Blue Room lights turn on and off by themselves. Doors have been heard to slam throughout the night, along with phantom footsteps, and breakable objects that fall from walls, but remain unharmed. In Marion's Room some think an entity of the young girl haunts this space. One ongoing occurrence involves a programmable doorbell which refused to operate when Carol set the tune. It only seemed to work when she left it alone, then it will play tunes randomly. "Happy Birthday" is one of the favorites.

During the winter of 2008 Carol resigned her ownership of the mansion to Tom and Julie Carr. As the years continue to pass hopefully the home will remain a fixture to the Milwaukee area and the Carrs keep the Brumder Mansion as a place where visitors can stay and feel a part of history. But if you decide to stay in the Gold Suite just make sure you leave your pets at home.

Yawkey Mansion-Wausau, WI

Elegant, sophisticated, refined from all appearances. The hallmarks of a beautifully restored and maintained turn-of-the-century mansion. Dark, brooding, and haunted upon closer inspection.

Built in 1900 to 1901 in the Classical Revival style designed by the Milwaukee architects Henry Van Ryn and Gerrit de Gelleke, the Yawkey Mansion of Wausau, WI, features large columns and a pedimented portico, 16 rooms and 7 fireplaces. Stained glass windows illuminate the staircase. Eight years after the house was built owners Cyrus and his wife AliceYawkey hired George W. Maher to remodel the first floor and add a two- story addition with a sun porch to the east side of the house.
Originally from Michigan, the Yawkeys moved to northern Wisconsin in 1889 when Cyrus joined with his uncle and a business partner from the Yawkey and Lee Lumber Company. A town was founded by the venture and Alice Yawkey named it Hazelhurst due to the abundance of hazelnut trees in the area. Ten years later, in 1899, the Yawkeys moved to Wausau where Cyrus was the uncontested leader of the Wausau Group. The Wausau Group was composed of wealthy lumbermen who pooled their resources in hopes of improving Wausau's economy as the logging industry was dying in the area. After Cyrus’s death in 1943, Alice continued living in the house until her own death in 1953. Their only child, Leigh Yawkey Woodson, and her daughters presented the house to the Marathon County Historical Society in 1954.

Cyrus Yawkey is believed to continue walking the halls of his beloved mansion. Phantom footsteps can be heard in the upstairs hallway and descending the main staircase. Strange odors have been reported in an upstairs room along with the smell of pipe tobacco in the first floor staircase landing. Staff has reported the sound of a telephone ringing in a room that has no phone. A book of poetry has been known to be moved from one exhibit to another by unseen hands. The door alarm often sounds by itself. A member of the staff has heard Mr. Yawkey’s name being called. Alone in the museum at the time, the frightened staffer tried to exit through the basement door and found it to be held shut. Employees on a lunch break in the kitchen once witnessed a soda bottle cap move across a table before falling to the floor.