Nah, it doesn't look like one to us either. It's Paola and John's home, featured yesterday as our House Tour. BUT, appropriately enough for Halloween, this amazing loft-like converted 1920's AT&T switch house has a history as a haunted house...
Paola sent us a link to this article by Laurie Grano in North Shore magazine, where they interviewed the previous owner of her home, Dave.
In 1997, when Dave went to examine the the mechanics of his newly purchased home, the previous owner warned him, "You will hear things you won't understand; you will see things you won't understand." Dave (who asked that his last name not be used) didn't make much of the man's comments at the time. He thought the ominous warning referred to the massive electric and heating systems in the 1920s Waukegan rehab, which was originally an Illinois Bell booster station. Today, Dave says he knows what the man meant: the house is haunted.
According to the article, spooky incidents include: footsteps, fleeting shadowy figures, the piano playing itself and mysterious events (including a hanging "stranger") in the basement laundry room.
Paola and John don't seem worried - they love their home, spooky or not. How about you? Would you brave a home with a haunted history?
Check out the (haunted?) house tour here.
Tina Wilson's Striking Style 
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Dunes & Duchess Can...
Make Chocolate Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping with Only 2 Ingredients
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Comments (19)
haha so your doing your laundry and then all of a sudden you see a man hanging there...hot
I'd give an ovary for this house.
Do the present-day owners hear weird noises?
I guess a house furnished with DWR can't be haunted, the ghosts don't feel credible anymore. :-)
Medusa, is this some sort of newfangled banking proposition? Because I totally have an extra ovary I'm not planning on using. And I could totally use an awesome house.
Should the rest of us be more creeped out by the ghost or by the ovary-for-a-house trading?
Beautiful architecture. The columns call to mind of another great mid-west structure: the Johnson Wax Building in Wisconsin.
i'm also curious to know if the current owners think it's haunted.
Completely and eternally gorgeous house--haunted or not.
Emily
This reminded me of an amazing loft space that old friends of ours used to live in over in East Pilsen. -The old Soda Pop factory building. There really *was* a man who hung himself in one of the spaces and wasn't discovered for a couple of weeks. I always wonder if the current tenants know about it. It has very similar aesthetics to this featured space. Perhaps the hanged prefer haunting open floorplans.
Paola and I have different opinions on if it is haunted or not.
Paola has herd a womans voice talking under the bedroom area in the middle of the night. Maybe an operator?
I have not heard or seen anything. We recently found that article on the hauntings and I was a little shocked. I feel very comfortable in the space and have been in every corner of the building day or night.
The original owner of the house was an architect and he converted the space. He passed away several years ago and may have left a good spirit in the house. Thats my theory at least, helps me sleep at night.
you guys are so sweet histerical-thanks for the comments!
no ovaries, lungs and/or spleens please!
I did hear a womans voice in the middle of the night when we first moved in- but haven't heard a peep for a while.
Honestly, I think the Ghosts got bored and took off!
Are you sure you guys don't want one of my ovaries to trade for the house? They're really very good ovaries. And I *do* love your house quite a great deal....
But before you tell me your decision about one of my ovaries, would you tell me where you got your absolutely gorgeous 4 poster bed?
My old apartment was haunted, which I didn't know when I moved in. It was a little creepy at first, but I got used to it.
I'd brave a haunted building again, but if it got too weird or if the mysterious noises were just too loud to tolerate, I'd move out.
Ah, Stiletto-- you got used to a haunted apartment?! How did you manage that?
PhillyLass - there were two ghosts, a 16-year-old girl and her mother. They didn't seem to mind us, and were pretty unobtrusive.
Prior to living in that apartment, I lived in a college dorm that was built on the site of an old Navy hospital. Some of *those* spirits were really, really scary. Compared to a transparent nurse in a blood-spattered 1940s uniform, two mysterious shadows who periodically moved down the hallway and played with the cats seemed relatively harmless.
spooky
Medusa no Ovaries needed (yet!) but will keep you posted if and/when I should need one-but thanks! I'm glad you like the house as much as we do.
If you are seriously in the market, you should look at realtor.com in waukegan. You'd be surprised to see what's available including this amazing 20's Masonic Temple on Sheridan for sale...gorgeous!
The four poster bed is from DWR (go figure) but it was discontinued :(. I think Room and Board sells one that is very similar.
As for ghosts, it's all in the mind...
btw Medusa- the Masonic Temple on Sheridan is clearly commercial...but you'd love the architecture!