It isnt a case of believing, its a case of experiencing, Hansen told a news crew while speaking about her encounters in the house. At the time of her death her father had been dead for four years and she had been married to her husband, Robert Wormeley Carter II, for some time. This daughter, too, fell to her death down the stairs (or over the railing), and her shade is alleged to haunt the third floor landing and stairs between the second and third floors.[24]. Ann was only a year younger than her husband. Series, American Pickers filmed here and bought some of her items, relieving her of some treasures. In the center of the building is a large winding staircase, which serves as a corridor leading to the rooms. January 18, 1984: Bathroom in the Feusier Octagon House, located at 1067 Green Street in San Francisco's Russian Hill. TheMcElroyOctagon House in San Francisco was badly damaged by the 1906 earthquake and had to be rebuilt. When the NSCDA renovated it in the early 1950s, they decided to take out the first-floor walls, opening up the claustrophobic floor plan and moving the central staircase to the back of the house. On either side of the porch the first floor was enlarged a bit to support the porch. Some have heard deathly screams at night yet they were the only ones in the house at the time. Frank Carpenter included the bell legend in his book, Carps Washington, published in 1883. The Tayloe family lived in the house until Annes death in 1855. A 1912 newspaper article related the story of a man who had stayed for a month in a room in the Octagon which he claimed was visited nightly by the spirit of a man who was killed over a card game held in the room. It has been featured on A&E, Travel Channel, Ghost Hunters and Haunted Collector. Ruth continued to live in the family home. It was built to maximize space on the small lot on which it is built. The 3rd ghost that was felt on the third floor is tied to the British occupation of . For a complete list of the births and deaths of the Tayloe children, see the John Tayloe III page. Some believe Brown built these features to aid in the escape of runaway slaves on their journey north to freedom in Ontario. "Return to Powhatan Growing up in Old Virginia," by Roberta Love Tayloe (1985) p.6-12,19. Free docent-led tours are available on the second Sunday and second and fourth Thursdays of each month. The knobs and shutter-buttons are of brass and evidently of a special pattern.[3]. Located at 2548 Gough Street, between Union and Green Streets in San Francisco's Cow Hollow. She may have died too soon, remarried, or she had to sell it in 1872). Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. In 1881 an exhibition to benefit the Washington Training School for Nurses was held in the vacant house. The True Story of Alexandrias Burning Bride. The first initial reports of hauntings of the Octagon House were said to date back as early as 1888. Recent variants of the quadroons legend have tended to be short, and are usually mentioned in relation to the (historically impossible) staircase legend. The spirit of Ruth probably is keeping an eye on the tenants who now rent the house while Marlene is trying to sell it. Some declare that it was discovered, after a time, that rats were the ghosts who rung the bells; others, that the cause was never discovered, and that finally the family, to secure peace, were compelled to take the bells down and hang them in different fashion. Perhaps one of them took the spinning wheel apart. In widowhood, she often lived in poverty, partially relieved by the sale of her late husbands papers. The butler, in a state of great alarm, rushed into the dining-room and declared that it was the work of an unseen hand. There was plenty to see here; featuring a lot of antiques and items from the early days of the Brown family and their descendants. Colonel Tayloe and his daughter quarreled on the second floor landing over the girl's relationship with a British officer stationed in the city. The oldest of the Octagon's ghost legends is that of the mysterious ringing of the servant's call bells, just one of the legends linked to the African American slaves who once lived there. The doors were made from mahogany while the rest of the home was made with some of the finest materials available, befitting a man of Tayloes means. She is said to have written that in Washington the Octagon was generally thought to be haunted because of the violent and unexplained ringing of the service bells. PG&E wanted the homes Cow Hollow lot for a future substation but, while the plans dawdled, kids and ghosts moved in. She died in Washington, D.C., but not at the Octagon House. The stories recorded here are merely a presentation of a few of the reported experiences and legends that have evolved over the past 200 years, and should not be taken as historical fact. She rented out the Carriage House that had been converted into an apartment with some effort. It is one of only five houses to serve as the presidential residence in the history of the United States of America, and one of only three (along with the White House and Blair House) that still stand. Her specter is allegedly seen crumpled at the bottom of the steps or on the stairs near the second floor landing, and sometimes exhibits itself as the light of a candle moving up the staircase. Dolley and James Madison resided in the Octagon House from September 1814 through March 1815, after the White House was burned by the British. There are no reports of a body ever being found in the house during the restorations undertaken in the 20th century, or before then. this also brought in a steady income to continue in the maintenance of this historic house. The spirits of parents may stay in this world to take care of their spirit child or children who has chosen to stay there. (Mary Kouncelor Brooks, Philadelphia Evening Telegram, 1912). Theyve heard the sounds of the Brown children playing more than 150 years after they occupied the home. Another famous presence that is said to be overstaying her welcome in the home is Dolley Madison (who had passed in another house in Washington D.C. in 1849, but lived here for a large part of the presidency of her husband) she is said to be haunting the Octagon House as well as other D.C. landmarks like the White House and the Cutts-Madison House where she lived out her final years. This five-bedroom, three-bathroom house is on 9.2 acres in a rural part of western Massachusetts. Alpine Park is on the left. Just ten years after being named a national landmark, the Octagon House was rebranded as a museum. This house and its land has long had a history of many uses, strong emotions, adventures and probably a few deaths. The first allegedly died before the War of 1812. The spirit of Ruth made her presence known to the owner Marlene throughout the house, and perhaps to the docents as well. By the 1950s, property records were long lost and it was a city mystery as to who built an eight-sided home, among the rarest in America and just one of two left in San Francisco. He was educated at Eton College and Cambridge University in England, served in the Virginia state legislature, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1800. The house, which was owned by PG&E, was sold and moved across the street to its current location. A date with the wrecking ball was set, despite the efforts of the group, Save the Octagon House Committee. Help us maintain the accuracy of our information. January 16, 1984: Feusier Octagon House, located at 1067 Green Street, in San Francisco's Russian Hill. The home needed extensive renovations. By far the most intricate legends connected with the Octagon are those that concern its two staircases, particularly the main staircase, which spirals up three floors. The servants bells are no longer in the house, so there are no reports of their continuing to ring today. According to legends, Dolley Madison's ghost is sometimes seen down in the drawing room of the Octagon, and that the scent of Lilacs often accompanies her ghost. The view of Cow Hollow in the 1870s. As for the octagon house ghost, it hasn't been heard from in some time. By this time, it was the centerpiece of a roughly 60,000 acre department of interdependent plantation farms-known as the Mount Airy department, located approximately one hundred miles south of Washington, D.C., in Richmond County, Virginia. The tin box that solved the mystery of San Francisco's Octagon House. He also said that some of the doors would open for no reason at all, even on nights when there was no wind reported. If his name doesnt sound familiar, his creation will: He was a co-founder of the Bohemian Club. A first-hand account was printed in a local newspaper, and this was subsequently quoted or paraphrased in articles printed in 1892, 1934, 1941, 1950, and 1969. It was Washington himself that suggested that Thornton would be responsible for the architecture of the Tayloe home. If a spirit has had a structure to itself for a time, and saw how the living have neglected it in the past, he or she may take some time getting used to having to share and may express other feelings as well. Although PG&E bought it in 1924, for decades the McElroy Octagon House remained one of the only homes in San Francisco without electricity. Pamphlet, "The Octagon A Brief Description and History" (American Institute of Architects). Octagon Museum visitors and staff have occasionally reported smelling lilacs in the drawing room of the house. [4] The house is well built of brick trimmed with Aquia Creek sandstone. This is a carousel. The house served as an important social center in Washingtons early years, and when the British burned the White House in 1814, President Madison and his family lived in the Octagon for six months as the city rebuilt. He inherited his wealth and expanded greatly on his fathers empire. In 1872, Dairyman Richard Morris lived there until 1887; only five years. TheMcElroyOctagon House in San Francisco's Cow Hollow is a holdover from a very short-lived fad in octagonal house-building. This beautiful monument has three stories. They rented the building for 4 years, and then purchased it outright in 1902. Updates have been made, including electrical, mechanicals, central air and a new roof. There are gorgeous hardwood floors throughout the house. Enamored with the octagon house phenomenon, they set to work building. Whether for bootlegging during Prohibition or as a stop on the Underground Railroad, the purpose of its many secret passages and hidden rooms remain a mystery. This 1856 octagon-shaped house has one and a half stories, grout walls covered with stucko, four dormers and a central chimney. It has five bedrooms to go along with the two baths. If the house were built to face either of the bordering streets, it would be at an ungainly angle in relation to the other street, and outbuildings and wells had to be fitted in also. The old woman went back to her Virginia home sullenly remarking, Never mind, hell pay for dis. Soon after the clatter of the bells began and continued until the annoyance was so great that they were taken down. The finished home was an eight-sided structure, that had nine secret passageways and spaces. It speculates that the haunted nature of the house is part of the reason that the house had suffered from stretches of vacancy. When Isaacs son Edwin married the daughter of the influential Pier family, Isaac gave the house to the happy couple as a wedding gift. And "the views are to die for.". That was close! The dome and cupola are not open to the public. The citys reputation earned it the nickname Little Chicago in reference to its enterprising neighbor to the south where gangsters like Bugs Moran and Al Capone ran massive operations in the trade of illicit booze. Whew! From all quarters the party rushed Too brave to desert, yet cowards at heart, we watched the gray light of morning dawn, and each man of us thanked God his night among ghosts was past. One daughter did die in 1815 at the age of 18, but family records indicate that she died at the family plantation, Mount Airy, in Richmond County, VA. When Cyprus told him that there wasnt, the doctor looked perplexed and told him of encountering a man on the stairs just a few moments before who had been dressed in a military uniform of the early 1800s. The Octagon House was likely spared destruction, during the War of 1812, because of the tricolor flag hanging outside. Currently operated by the American Institute of Architects Foundation, the Octagon Museum offers self-guided tours, permanent and changing exhibitions, public programing, and guided tours by appointment. ), Use the form below to submit photos and videos for use on the Wisconsin Frights website and social media. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/OctagonHouse-Washington-DC_DSC6648.jpg/1280px-OctagonHouse-Washington-DC_DSC6648.jpg, http://dcmemorialist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/OctagonHouse.jpg, http://dcmemorialist.com/wp-content/gallery/octagon-house/2015-04-24-13.45.40.jpg, The Old Stone House: D.C.s Oldest Haunted House. [14] Though the main room is a circle, one possibility is that it resembled octagonal rooms common in England, which were also circles but called octagon salons because they were constructed of eight walls and then plastered heavily in the corners to make a circle. Isaac Brown had given the main house to his son Edmund, as a belated wedding present just before Isaac died. He took the dog down to the basement, and when they got to the bottom of the stairs the dog started to growl, lunged for the only spot of light in the room, and sat there cowering until they went back upstairs. When it is dark, the living see lights, and hear sounds. Additionally, there have been reports of odors of cooking food coming from the kitchen downstairs. The Octagon House may not be one of the most recognized landmarks in Washington, D.C. Ann Ogle Tayloe lived in the Octagon until her death in 1855. However, the 1970s owner did manage to get this Octagon House listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on November 3rd, 1972, before the state took ownership of this as is fixer-upper opportunity, and put it on the market at a reduced price. After those screams our band was closely knit together collectively we listened through the waning hours of night to the clanking of sabers and tramping of footfalls.. While the spirit people dont seem to mind sharing with living people, as they have done so for over 100 years, co-existing with spectral housemates is an acquired taste, and not welcomed by potential buyers of this property so far. Some declare that it was discovered, after a time, that rats were the ghosts who rung the bells; others, that the cause was never discovered, and that finally the family, to secure peace, were compelled to take the bells down and hang them in different fashion. [28], A gambler shot to death in the home's third-floor bedroom in the late 19th century has been reportedly seen in the room in which he died. [27], In the late 1940s, a doctor who had made a house call to the Octagon had a strange encounter on the stairway. July 27, 1952: From the back of the photo: One of San Francisco's two [there are actually 3] octagonal houses, the McElroy house at 2648 Gough Street, equipped with triangular closets, a reticent ghost and memories dating back to 1864, will shortly be sold to the highest bidder. The Octagon House is rumored to be home to several ghosts. The octagonal home includes four rooms on the first floor and seven rooms on the second, built around a central staircase. She also opened up the house to several paranormal groups, like Southwest Wisconsin Paranormal Group. Dutton House, VT (A young girl died here from either an accident or an illness). The living room has a false fireplace with a small wooden stairway behind it and there is also a secret room adjacent to a second story bedroom. There was also an underground tunnel between the main house and the large wood shed, that started behind the fireplace in the parlor. Edwin would not make it back home to his young wife and children. A maintenance man from the 1970s was working at the house late one night, vacuuming the stairs between the first and second floor, and saw a man wearing dark black clothing, late nineteenth century, and a tall hat walk up the stairs. Kind of a low moan, repeated twice, it wasnt a word just a guttural sound. Since the home was the place where both John and Ann Tayloe breathed their last breaths, their spirits may roam around long after their deaths, ringing bells to summon servants who no longer attend to their desires. A newspaper of the account included a reference to the legend of the bells. 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