The Kehoe House – Tragic Scene, Funeral Home, Bed and Breakfast

Another house that seems to be more haunted than its legend allows is the Kehoe house, built by William Kehoe in 1892. Kehoe was an Irishman, served in the Civil War and went to create an successful ironworks. He used his own foundry to create the iron railings, columns and window moldings. Tragedy struck when two young children were killed in the house while playing in one of the room. Apparently there was an incident with the fireplace and chimney. As you may guessed, details are a little sketchy.

It’s hard to say if there are other confirmed deaths. The death of the children is certainly sad, but the house is not rife with additional tragic events. There are reports of children’s laughter as well as the sound of footsteps. It has also been noted by one guest that she woke up in the middle of the night when she felt someone stroking her face and hair. The child vanished.

(Overactive imagination and feeling of her own hair on her face?)

The unusual part of the home’s history comes from its conversion to a funeral home. Yes indeed, it spend some years (it’s hard to say how many) tending to those past. From there it was converted into the bed and breakfast it is today. At one point it was almost destined to be a night club under the hands of Joe Namath. The citizenry didn’t take too kindly to that and the idea was scrapped. It was sold and continued it’s journey of passing through multiple owners.

As stated, it’s a bed and breakfast now and you can book rooms at your leisure. It seems room 201 and 203 have some activity going on, so if you can grab one of those you might be in for a treat.

I’m sure there is more to the place, but as far as tragic histories go, this one has barely a blip. It’s always sad when there is an accident in the home, especially when it involves children. But considering the house was built in 1892 and all the tumultuous times that have come since, it seems the house has gone rather unscathed through history. Is there more to this story? Are there other events just waiting to be uncovered? Does its foreboding nature give rise to flights of fancy? Because it’s old it has to be haunted?

 

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The Most Haunted House in America? Hampton Lillibridge House

 

It hardly looks the part, but by many accounts this is the most haunted house in America. Depending on who you ask, it’s certainly the most haunted house in Savannah.

The Hampton Lillibridge House at 507 East St. Julian Street, which sits mere yards away from the edge of town near The Pirate House restaurant, looks incredibly unassuming and in fact rather peaceful and tranquil. If it wasn’t pointed out and you weren’t paying attention, you would walk right past and not give a second thought. It’s not made of brick. It doesn’t look all that old. It doesn’t have weathered walls. It doesn’t even have an ominous stature. So what’s the deal?

The house is a restoration project of Jim Williams, of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame, and was built in 1976. In 1964, William purchased the house and had it moved. Reports say that a worker was killed when part of the roof collapsed during the tricky procedure. Once the house was in place, workers claimed to hear footsteps, voices, laughter and the sound of moving furniture. There are also reports of multiple figures wandering around the house, singing, people dancing and lights turning on and off.

There could be some truth to all the activity as a crypt was found on the property. Some say the crypt was empty, some say remains were found. The story I heard claims bodies were found in the crypt.

Williams himself is claimed to have had experiences in the house. Reports claim he even chased a figure through the house! His attitude toward the house changed and an Episcopal bishop was brought in to perform an exorcism.

All of this took place in 1963, all within the same year of Jim Williams’ restoration efforts. So what goes on there now? Does the same activity still prevail? It’s hard to find any new evidence of the paranormal. All we have are these original reports. Sure, some odd things happened, but considering the length of time that’s passed, are these stories now larger than life? Considering Jim Williams’ ties to voodoo, was he just a superstitious man? Did he just buy an old house that had more creaks and groans than he anticipated? Did he really find a crypt and was it occupied? Is this one of those slave burial grounds that few people speak of?

The same story has been told over and over again. The details are fixed and repeatable. Has rumor turned to legend?

The house is now a private residence and is reportedly up for sale at an asking price of $2.8 million.

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You can always fine more with a search of "Hampton Lillibridge House"

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A trip to Savannah – a recap

So here’s a quick recap of Savannah, what we did, what we liked and where I think it could be improved.

First of all, the vacation was wonderful. Savannah is a lovely city full of very nice people and excellent food. Even though I think we planned a bunch of activities, we didn’t scratch the surface of what it had to offer. I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to going back. If I had my way, we’d be heading back before the end of the summer.

But here’s what we did pull of:

Dinner at Pirate’s House – Decent food but way over priced for what you get. There is supposedly a ton of lore about the house, but getting anyone to talk about it was more of a challenge than I expected.

Ogelthorpe Trolley Tour – Interesting, but overall not very practical. The tour lacked any sort of real detail, the tour didn’t stop anywhere and the narration wasn’t anything different than what you get in a guide book. And we never used it for transportation after the tour was over. It wasn’t bad, but on my return trip we’ll either walk or bring bikes. It really wasn’t worth the money.

Ogelthorpe Haunted Trolley Tour – Again, an interesting idea, but it lacked detail and excitement. Unless you get scared when someone turns on the lights, this will probably leave you bored. Not on my list of things to do again. I think I’ll give one of the walking tours a try next time. Mind you, there are about 10 different ghost tours available. At the least I’ll do the one for Bonaventure.

Riverboat Dinner Cruise – Loved it! Excellent food, fun atmosphere, good music, attentive staff that want you to have a good. Would love to do it again and will probably do the murder mystery boat ride next. Well worth it. I think this would be fantastic in late summer.

Breakfast at Goosefeathers – Excellent Eggs Benedict, but the place is packed in the morning. It’s affordable and there’s gonna be a line out the door.

Churchill’s – Nice little pub. Very busy. Very tasty Steak and Ale pie. Not a grand selection of beer though. Worth dinner at least once.

DoubleTree Hotel – Very nice and in a great location. It’s right across the street from the river so it’s pretty convenient to everything. Very friendly staff and a convenient pickup point for tours. Careful though, they do charge $15 a day for their valet parking and you can’t say no. This little charge was added to the bill on the last day. Bit of a surprise. I’d stay there again though because I had no issues whatsoever.

Huey’s – We didn’t have dinner, just dessert and drinks. They apparently have a great eggs Benedict, but again, I didn’t try it. That’s on the list for next time. Not a bad selection of beers and it’s right on the water so that’s not too shabby. They have live entertainment as well. I’m certainly willing to head back and give it a full look.

So there you go, that’s my trip. Probably way more information than you ever wanted to know. But, if you’re planning a trip out there it might be of help or at least some interest. As I said, I can’t wait to get back out there. However, I think we’re going to investigate Blackbeard first.

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Why does a coveted piece of real estate stand empty and, apparently, abandoned?

I see this question written a lot and the answer, at least to me, seems rather mundane. It usually in reference to large stately manors. In this particular case it’s about a house in Savannah that no one will occupy. And when someone does by the property the workers leave one day and never return. Is it the ghosts that keep people away or is it something else?

How about this for an explanation?

Let’s take that house at 423 Abercorn in Savannah. A Greek Revival that stands abandoned. Why won’t anyone live there?

First, check out the price, it’s listed at nearly $800k. And that’s down from the millon dollars they were asking for previously.

Second, the house has been abandoned, vandalized and allowed to rot. To fix the house will cost a fortune, perhaps as much as the house itself. That doesn’t include putting furniture back into it.

Third, the house is in the historic district of Savannah. You have to get permission from everyone and their mother before you do ANY work. You’ll have to involve the city, historic society, SCAD and not to mention multiple hearings and months, perhaps years worth of paperwork lay ahead of you. You won’t just buy it an move in.

Fourth, the yearly taxes are around $12k. Every year you will have to pay at least $12k for the upkeep of the house. That’s a $1000 a month on top of everything else.

Fifth, insurance. You’re gonna have to insure it. God forbid something happens to it after you fix it up. For a historic home, in that area, that won’t come cheap.

Right off the bat you’re looking for someone with a lot of cash on hand and who is incredibly patient. That person will need to put up with a lot of shit too. Not just red tape, but haunted tours, sightseers, onlookers and plenty of other publicity. Don’t like the limelight? Don’t build in Savannah.

So why do works mysteriously stop working? Why is the house always abandoned? I’m pretty sure it’s because the money has dried up. No one works for free. And you can’t build without permits.

Anyone agree? Is this more plausible than workers being assaulted by unseen forces?

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