The Whaley House in San Diego

As promised, I wanted to post about the Whaley House, claimed as "one of the most haunted houses in America."

Prior to the house being built, the lot was used as an area to conduct hangings.  Mr. Whaley didn't care a thing about that because he bought the lot and built the Whaley House, anyway.  It was used for many different purposes throughout the years, and it didn't always look like this, but it is a beautiful structure used for house tours, now.

Of course, I loved the "haint blue" on the front porch.

The grounds around the house were beautiful, green and flowering and shaded by massive, old trees, none of which would have been there back in the house's hay day.  Other period buildings have been brought in for preservation from around the area.  It adds an old-timey quality to the space even though it's not entirely authentic.

Here is an adult sized sippy-cup.  I kid, but was tickled because I'd never heard of moustache cups.  Apparently the bridge across the top of the cup was to protect men's moustaches, common trend of the period, from getting doused in the beverage.  This cup was part of the Whaley's china set.  I'll be on the lookout for this type of cup when I visit antique stores from now on.

This is a picture of the dining room.  Since there was no electric lighting, at that time, the wall paper served a purpose beyond looking decorative on the walls.  The gold inlay reflects the candlelight so that it appears more lit up than it actually is.  Pretty clever.

It was in this space that my oldest daughter felt a tingling sensation in her fingers and hand.  She said the feeling was reminiscent of the prickly feeling you get when your hand falls asleep, but it dissipated as quickly as it set on only lasting for about thirty seconds.  She said it was as if someone was gripping her hand.  There are reports of the ghost of a two-year old relative of the Whaley's that passed away at the house after discovering and consuming some toxic substance.  Could be she had a little visitor.

 

Although I didn't experience anything in the house, I did come home with this eerie picture.  This is a picture of one of the bedrooms in the Whaley House.  Do you notice the slight outline of a woman to the left of the bed?

 

Pretty creepy, huh?  Unfortunately I can debunk any ghastly apparitions appearing in this photo.  See, the rooms have plexi-glass over each entry way so you can't actually enter them.  Here, I caught the reflection of a fellow tour-taker in the plexi-glass.  I turned around to see who was behind me just to be sure because the face appeared in my preview on my camera, too.  Still, it's fun photo to fool my friends with. ; )

 

Despite my lack of "ghostly" encounters, I love touring old homes so it was a win for me.  I'd recommend visiting the Whaley House if you're in Old Town, San Diego.  It was affordable and a lot of fun.