There’s talk of tombstones, creaking floors, scary ghost stories and frightened children in Madeira. Is the town getting ready for Halloween? Perhaps. However, these tales are not centered around late October festivities. Instead they are circling in the air, in the basement and deep within the closets of a 153-year-old farmhouse that conceals secrets behind its warm and inviting buttercream façade.
“Before I lived here,” says homeowner Leslie Gordon, “If you asked me, ‘Do you believe in ghosts?’ I would have said ‘No. I’m a scientist.’”
The Italianate Victorian house was originally built in 1859 on property owned by the family of John Jones, a revolutionary war soldier who happens to be buried in the family cemetery that’s just a couple of streets away. Leslie and husband Steve believe Jones’ spirit is who haunts the place.
During the civil war, the home served as the regional headquarters for a union army regiment. The family was forced out of the house during that period but they returned after the hostilities ceased.
Over the years, the family name changed through marriage to DeMar, a prominent east-side family, whose descendents lived in the house until 1960. In fact, the residence is still known as the DeMar house today. Originally a dairy farm, there were cows on the property as late as the 1950s.
From 1960 until 1965, the home was abandoned. This was the time period when it was known as “the haunted house” to Leslie and her friends. A doctor bought the house in 1965 and lived there with his family until 1976. They started a major renovation effort. Then an engineer and his family took up residence and made several more substantial improvements to the home until the Gordons bought it in 2000.
It took a while for them to get used to their new house. In fact, for the first week they slept nearby at Leslie’s mom’s. Strange noises and occurrences kept the homeowners on their toes.
“We never actually saw a ghost, but it sounded every bit like a haunted house. Our dogs would look at the walls or up at the ceiling and growl,” Leslie says, “But there was nothing there.” Also, things would mysteriously disappear and then reappear in a different place a few days later.
For the first year, Leslie’s sister Julie lived with the couple and was a third witness to the strange goings-on. During the holiday season, Julie, who is a light sleeper, woke Leslie out of a sound sleep and asked her “What did you get Johnny for Christmas?”
“She claims she could hear him rattling the wrapping paper,” Leslie says.
After that, Steve and Leslie decided to go out and buy a gift for their resident ghost. “I found some old pictures of women and picked the most attractive ones to give Johnny for Christmas,” she says.
Those spiritual shenanigans continued throughout the couple’s first year in the home. After, and perhaps because, the couple furnished the home with antique pieces appropriate to the era of the home, things quieted down.
The Gordons are quite happy to share their home with its past owners. According to Steve, when you live in a home with this type of history you never feel like you really own the house.
“We’re just the caretakers for a number of years until we pass it on to the next residents. But we are doing our best to bring the house back to its past glory,” he says.
And what loving caretakers they are. Since they bought the house, the Gordons have done considerable work while holding on to the historical integrity of the home.