About 3 years ago, I took my now best friend Loretta out to go look at a few foreclosures as we were starting to look for a home for her and her family. This particular house was quite old, nestled in a corner in a close by historic town called Egg Harbor City. 405 Atlantic Ave.. It was a run down, but still beautiful gothic white home with wrought iron fence and ivy everywhere. Once we were inside, there were some really creepy areas inside this house. Pocket doors on some of the rooms, every other room had a very weird 1920's type of bathroom, claw foot tubs, all intact.
It seemed as if it had been used at some point as a boarding house. Another room that looks like half a ball room. We went upstairs and saw layers upon layers of wallpaper that had been peeled back, rooms that were severely dilapidated, but a ton of beautiful woodwork. Everything was going great, until we got to the basement. Once we got down to the basement, Loretta wasn't looking too well. Looked literally like the color was draining from her face. I looked at her and asked her if she was okay, she just said, "We need to go. I headed for the stairs, she stood there for a moment, staring at the door in the corner. She looked at the door as she backed up to follow me toward the stairs. Now at the time, I didn't know Loretta very well. She later explained that she's sensitive to certain things, and when we got to that part of the basement, she felt like somebody was sitting on her chest. She became uncomfortable to the point that she couldn't breathe... We had poked around a bit more, but that basement had a room with chains attached to the walls... Ath that point, I wanted out....
I had always been intrigued by haunted homes, but never really experienced anything strange. After going home later on that day and looking up the address, came to find that the home had been in an orphanage many many years ago, and what appeared to be like an oversized workshop outside was actually their schoolhouse. The listing read:
"Estate that was built in 1866 for the orphans of the civil war." Then, "Previous uses include home for widows and orphans of the civil war, boarding home, and insurance office. Residential with commercial use. Original carriage house on site. Being sold strictly as is, needs total renovation. cash or owner will finance . Basement. fireplace."
Back in the Depression era, many people had live there, some had passed away there. Lots of misery.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago, I had to take a couple that I had not met up till that day to go look at 4 houses in a local neighborhood. The first three went well, but the houses didn't look that great. We get to the last one, and we go to open the front door and walk in. I was the last to enter, and as I did, the door slammed shut behind me. As it did, the wife, who was ahead of me, had suddenly caught such a chill that she actually shook it off in front of me.
Now normally, that wouldn't be an issue, except for a couple of things. One, it was about 92 degrees out, no breeze whatsoever. And 2, the house was like a sauna, there was no air conditioning on, there was no power. She started to head for the front door and said, "I'm leaving," and she had barely walked into the home. Her husband brushed it off and said, "Oh come on." We did a quick walk through on the lower level, and then we went to go upstairs. As soon as we got to the top step, we heard the front door slam down stairs. The only problem with THAT? It had been closed shut when we had headed upstairs. The wife looked at the husband, and said, "I'll be waiting outside." I heard her fumbling with the lock and mumbling under her breath because she couldn't get the door to open. I walk downstairs, turn the knob and the door opened. She couldn't have gotten out of that home fast enough! Have you experienced anything similar?
Tomorrow, Part 2: MY Haunted House... Stay Tuned!
http://njrealtormama.com/2016/01/is-this-house-haunted/
Whether you're looking to buy a home, or trying to sell a home, I can help! We have the best real estate marketing to get your house sold, best realtor services ever! I cover Atlantic County, NJ, Cape May County, NJ, Ocean County, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ, , Gloucester County, NJ, Camden County, NJ and Burlington County, NJ, too! Pick a town, any town! Need some suggestions? Ok! Absecon, Galloway, Egg Harbor Township, Northfield, Linwood, Somers Point, Ocean City, Sea Isle, Hammonton, Williamstown, Sicklerville, Mullica, Tuckahoe, Middle Township, Upper Township, Lower Township, Rio Grande, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, New Gretna, and Port Republic. Any you don't see here? CALL ME! I'm sure I'm on it!
Chris :0)
Christine Gerbehy
Berkshire Hathaway Fox and Roach Realtors
Northfield Office
1001 Tilton Rd. Northfield, NJ 08225
609-646-1900
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