Historic home is haunted but happy

“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.’”

But the seeds of doubt were planted long ago when Leslie was just a kid running around the neighborhood. Long before she began spending her days as a research scientist, Leslie and her friends scared themselves silly at a nearby house which the gang claimed to be haunted.

“Kids would set nickels up on a rock in the back yard and dare each other to go up to the front door or look in the windows,” she says. But apparently the coins weren’t enough incentive because, Leslie says, “There was always a line of nickels left untouched.”

Who would ever imagine that Leslie would grow up to not only live in that house, but to present the ghost with gifts during the holidays?

College and work led Leslie away from her hometown and eventually planted her in Atlanta, where she lived for 20 years with husband Steve Gordon, a management consultant.

While on a return trip to visit her ailing father, Leslie took a walk with her mother and Steve, and the three landed right in front of the spooky house of her childhood. But instead of nickels out front, this time a big “For Sale” sign grabbed her attention.

At first, Leslie wanted nothing to do with the house, but Steve knew the time was coming when they would want to move to be closer to his wife’s family. Plus, he was enchanted by the place and wanted to take a look inside.

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. The Gordons 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 descendants 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.

The house is somewhere in the ballpark of 6,000 square feet, although the Gordons have never actually measured it.

On the first floor there are separate ladies’ and gentlemen’s parlors, a dining room and kitchen that were part of the orginal home.

Later additions included a family room as well as a breakfast room and office that have been converted from screened porches on either side of the house. There is also a solarium that used to serve as the dairy before it was a chicken coop. The home’s four full bathrooms are all somewhat unusual in size and design. They had to be fitted in wherever they could because when the house was originally built there was no indoor plumbing.

After touring the home, the Gordons were on a flight home to Atlanta when Steve had an epiphany of sorts and suddenly just knew it was the right decision to buy the house.

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.

“We think Johnny started to feel more comfortable with us after we settled in,” Leslie says.

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.

Both travel extensively for their careers and they enjoy finding antiques while they’re on the road. In fact, the couple has been collecting antique furniture for 30 of their 31 years of marriage.

They love coming home, finding the perfect spot for their new treasures. When they’re not working on their endless list of projects, they enjoy playing with their two Golden Retrievers, Roux and Ember, or Sophy, an Australian Shepherd. Leslie is a skilled dog trainer and has won several championships in obedience and confirmation.

The house requires a tremendous amount of upkeep, but Leslie and Steve have, by necessity, learned a great deal about home maintenance, repair and renovation.

“It seems like our lives here are continually two steps forward, one step back,” says Steve. “As soon as one project is finished, something else always needs attention.”

One of the agreements Steve and Leslie made when they bought the house was that their first major project would be to update the master bathroom on the second floor. Remodeling the outdated kitchen was also high on the list of priorities. Last spring, after 11 years, they finally finished the kitchen and the master bath is this year’s project—they hope.

There is never a shortage of unexpected challenges that need to be addressed. For example, when the Gordons first moved in, the sunroom walls were so mildewed that the floor to ceiling windows were falling out and needed to be replaced. When the roof flashing failed and the family room and basement flooded, the homeowners had to install a French drain and sump pump system to prevent future reoccurrences. During the flood, the pecky cypress wood used to panel the walls in the family room was irreparably stained. The couple went to great lengths—and expense—to locate replacement  paneling all the way from Louisiana.

Although these repairs can be painstaking, the couple never doubts their importance.

Do they ever think about moving to someplace a little easier to maintain? If they do, it’s only for a moment or two before the charm and the history of the home lures them back in.

“All I have to do is walk upstairs and look out the front window,” says Leslie. “I know I would never have that opportunity in any other house. My roots are here. We plan on dying in this house if we can.”

And who knows? Maybe caretakers of the home 150 years or so from now will be kind enough to buy the spirits of Steve and Leslie presents of their own.