Houmas House in South Louisiana offers several ghost stories but there's more reasons to visit the exquisite River Road property

Houmas House with its "grieving" oak trees

There are plantations and historic homes scattered throughout Louisiana, many hidden behind alleys of live oak trees shrouded in Spanish moss, the buildings appearing through this vegetation like a veil between this world and the next. It’s easy to imagine the spirits of yesteryear still walking the grounds of these ancient giants, still haunting the halls and bedrooms.

Houmas House outside Gonzales, Louisiana, owns a different vibe, one of luxury, elegance and a lively history. The property’s story dates back to the 1700s when two New Orleans businessmen, Maurice Conway and Alexander Latil, purchased the land from the Houmas Indians and built a small home facing the Mississippi River near an ancient Houmas mound. Later, Gen. Wade Hampton of South Carolina would purchase the property and expand the original French Provincial residence before leaving the home to his daughter Caroline and son-in-law Col. John Preston. It was the Prestons that created the enormous house visitors view today. In 1857, Irishman John Burnside took over the plantation and enlarged its acreage for sugarcane and later Col. William Porcher Miles expanded its production even further.

 

The antique coffin at Houmas House

Today, the home with its multi-columned Greek Revival exterior is known as the “Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road.” New Orleans businessman Kevin Kelly purchased the mansion in 2003 and has turned the site into one of the finest wedding venues in Louisiana. The property now includes the award-winning Latil’s Landing Restaurant, a la carte dining options in the magnificent Carriage House, the Turtle Bar located in the former garconniere and several cabins for overnight stays. The 38-acre grounds feature oak trees dating back to original owners but also exquisite formal gardens under the current landscaping staff, including fountains, statuaries, a Monet-style garden with waterfall and other endless floral spots for photographs and the saying of vows.

Visitors to the Crown Jewel wouldn’t expect ghosts in such a stately place, and our tour guide for the night admitted that the spirits of those gone before do linger here, but he preferred to focus on the history and luxury of the house. And he had every right. The house is filled with antiques, artwork and historical objects, including a 19th century casket and an antique vampire killing kit. But curious minds like me wanted to know more.

 

Bette Davis Bedroom

A staff member once spent the night in a second-floor bedroom and awoke to find a tall, shadowy figure standing in the doorway gazing toward her bed. When she turned to follow his line of sight, an elderly woman as clear as day was lying next to her in bed, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed. She uttered questions in fright, then looked back toward the door and the man had disappeared. Thankfully, so had the old woman.

Other visitors have seen what appears to be a young girl and many believe her to be the daughter of Caroline and Wade Preston, who died at the age of 12. There’s also an account of an angry spirit coursing up a shaft between the first and third floors, moving through the bedroom used in the film, “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland.

Kelly’s not one to believe in ghosts but one night he noticed his dogs staring off to the corner of his bedroom. The two labradors followed an invisible object across the room, their gazes in sync, until whatever they were staring at disappeared inside a mirror.

The magnificent oak trees leading up to the house remain from the house’s original days but half of the trees were removed for the building of the Mississippi River levee in the early part of the 20th century. Although they have ample room to grow and prosper, they bend toward each other, as if in grief.

 

The Cabins at Houmas House

Want to learn more about the house’s ghost history? Special haunted tours are offered at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. nightly through October. But don’t worry, they include the house’s unique history, architecture, artwork and more.

Here’s what I suggest. Arrive early and enjoy a spirit of another sort in the Turtle Bar (I highly suggest the Old Fashions) and either relish in the unique space or peruse the lighted pathways throughout the gardens. After the tour of the mansion, enjoy dinner in either The Carriage House Restaurant or Latil’s Landing. For a truly special evening, stay overnight in one of Houma House’s cabins, luxurious accommodations in a peaceful setting and yes, no ghosts on that side of the property. At least, we didn’t encounter any.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

AAA goes ghost hunting this month

The September-October 2015 issue of AAA Southern Traveler magazine looks at Louisiana's haunts, from the many ghostly sites of Shreveport (that's Oakland Cemetery to the left) and New Orleans to Loyd Hall Plantation outside Alexandria (right). 

Who haunts the Opelousas Museum?

Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center

            Living history roams the Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center, walking among the Clifton Chenier zydeco records, Civil War relics and around the barbershop chair where Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde fame got his last haircut. There are specters who refuse to leave the 1935 building, whose incarnations included the Sibille’s Funeral Home, a church and the Opelousas Library.

            Director Delores Guillory had no idea of the building’s history when she first started working at the Opelousas Museum. Her first clue came when she was alone in the building, sitting at her desk inside the office.

            “The front door opened and it closed,” Guillory said. “I looked over and nobody came. I looked at the door and there was no one.”

            Guillory even went so far as to check the outside porch and sidewalk and both were empty. When her supervisor returned, she recalled the story. To her surprise, the supervisor laughed.

            “That’s when she told me about it once being a funeral home,” Guillory said.

            Other events followed, including hearing startling noises like something falling from the wall. Once a loud noise emanated from the Civil War room and Guillory smelled cigarettes after investigating.

            Another time she was sitting in the hallway when the back door opened and closed. At first she chalked it up to the security guard who liked to tease her about the ghosts, but when she called him up on the phone, he was the park.

            “I said okay, that was our ghost again.”

The Civil War Room

            Others have experienced sightings as well. One employee spotted something white and whispy moving across her line of sight by the Civil War Room.

            “All of sudden something went across cold cold and she smelled perfume,” Guillory explained. “We told her about the ghosts. The next day she quit.”

            A worker performing community service at the museum halted at the mannequin in the Mardi Gras display, a man bedecked in a long mink and velvet robe. The elaborate robe was created for Nolan Simmons, who reigned as King Orme XLVIII in the 1994 Carnival season in Opelousas. Today, it adorns the mannequin inside a glass case, with a mirror behind so visitors can view all sides.

            “She said I have to get out of here,” Guillory related of the woman’s experience at the mannequin. “She said there’s a bad vibe in here.”

            Some people halt at the front door, feeling the paranormal vibe and refusing to set foot inside, Guillory said.

            Louisiana Spirits paranormal investigators spent an evening in the museum and heard unusual sounds they couldn’t account for, but they did debunk the mystery of the moving dolls in the display cases. The dolls were not laying flat within the cases so footsteps in the hall caused the cabinets to shake and move, said Jennifer Broussard of Louisiana Spirits. Investigator Charles Gardner managed to get one doll to turn completely as he walked in the hallway, he said.

This story was an excerpt from "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" by Cheré Coen, published by The History Press.

Ghost in the Grevemberg parlor

    The Grevemberg House in Franklin, Louisiana, was built in 1851 by town lawyer Henry Wilson. He later sold the home to Mrs. Frances Wyckoff Grevemberg, who had lost her husband, Gabriel Grevemberg, in the 1856 hurricane that devastated Last Island or Isle Derniere off the coast of Louisiana. Mrs. Grevemberg and her children lived in the house for many years, then different owners purchased the home until the City of Franklin took over the property in 1948.

            Today, the Greek Revival house is a museum operated by the St. Mary Landmarks Society. Most of the furnishings are not original to the house, but are appropriate period antiques. However, the cypress floors and the downstairs black marble mantles are original.

            The Grevemberg House Museum offers Civil War memorabilia, an iron casket, an extensive toy and doll collection and a large statue of Justice saved from the demolition of the old Franklin courthouse.

            Ghosts have not been reported here, but a psychic visited the museum and claimed an older woman was standing near the center table in the front room, the one housing the Steinway Grand Square piano beneath the portrait of handsome Charles Alexander Grevemberg, who built Albania Plantation in nearby Jeanerette, Louisiana. The psychic claimed the woman found the room nicely furnished, but the pieces were not where they were supposed to be. She hovered by the table and then walked toward the fireplace.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

Who remains at Loyd Hall Plantation?

            I’ve heard that Loyd Hall Plantation near Alexandria was haunted but never got the full story until I spent the night. The main house was full the night we visited so I shared the old kitchen out back — newly renovated, of course, and accented with antiques — with a friend who had not known it was haunted. Needless to say, she taped on my door several times in the night because she was scared someone less alive than I would visit.

            The story goes that William Loyd built the impressive home around 1820, after he was cast out of the Lloyd family in England, the ones associated with Lloyds of London. Hence only one l in his name, which he changed upon arrival in America.

            The black sheep of the Lloyd family didn’t do so bad for himself in central Louisiana, creating a plantation of tobacco, corn, indigo and sugarcane on hundreds of acres. Stories claim he was a bit eccentric, however, and the local natives weren’t too fond of him, which explains the spent arrowheads in the kitchen doors.

An upstairs suite.

            Another story claims he worked both sides of the Civil War and was hanged from an oak tree in the front of his house for treason.

            Today, the home is listed on the National Historic Register and serves as a bed and breakfast with guests enjoying a full breakfast in the main house with walls of windows overlooking the property. In addition to two elegant suites on the second floor (hint, this is where to stay if you want to see ghosts), there are numerous “cottages” in the rear, including the old commissary and kitchen, where we stayed (without incident).

            William Loyd haunts the home, some people think, and favors the front porch. A Union soldier killed on the third floor still hangs around as well. And there are more, as Miss Beaulah Davis explained to us in the morning when we were enjoying our breakfast. Guests have reported things moving on their own, pressure on furniture when no one was there and unusual sounds.

The third floor schoolhouse.

            According to Louisiana Spirits paranormal investigators, “Mr. Loyd's relative, Inez Loyd, jumped to her death from the third story attic. The suicide was said to have taken place due to Inez being stood up by her fiancé. The third floor was also said to have been home to a small schoolhouse on one side and the room of the teacher on the other. It was this teacher that was said to have been in a relationship with a Union soldier who chose to stay behind after the troops left. He was often seen on the front porch, serenading the teacher with a violin. It is at his point that the history is unclear. Some sources say that the soldier was then shot by the teacher's sister, while others say it was an angry neighbor that committed the murder. Needles to say, the soldier was, in fact, shot on the third floor and buried under the house. Years later, his remains were exhumed and moved to an undisclosed location.”

            We visited the third floor and witnessed a large stain near the window, said to have been the blood stain of the fallen soldier.

            Loyd Hall is located at 292 Loyd Bridge Road in Cheneyville. For information, call (318) 776-5641 or visit http://www.loydhall.com.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

Marland's Bridge may be bridge to another world

            Arguably the most haunted area near Lafayette is just outside the town of Sunset, named by railroad workers who finished the job at dusk where the town is now located — or so the story goes. Marland’s Bridge, next to Chretien Point Plantation is the site of a Civil War battle known as the November 3, 1863, Battle of Bayou Bourbeau between Union troops under the leadership of Brigadier General Stephen G. Burbridge and approaching Confederate troops led by Brigadier General Thomas Green. The Confederates took the Union forces by surprise and chaos ensued, resulting in a solid victory for the South.

            The hero of the day was twenty-three-year-old Lieutenant William Marland of the Second Massachusetts artillery. When Texans approached and appeared to be about to capture him, Marland charged the bridge across Bayou Bourbeau. The surprise action forced the Texans to jump off the bridge into the water and Marland escaped. He was later honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his brave actions that day.

            Today the bridge is named for Marland, but that may not be a good thing, for folks near and far claim the bridge and area around the bayou as haunted. Locals have reported seeing unusual lights and hearing strange noises near the bridge, plus a woman wearing white has been spotted walking on the bridge — and she’s anything but alive.

            LouisianaSpirits made several visits to Marland’s Bridge and recorded unusual phenomena and “a large orange light crossing the bridge.” The photo is posted on their web site.

            GhostsN Spectors of Breaux Bridge experienced paranormal activity on three occasions at the bridge, including “phantom smells, disembodied voices, sub-zero temperature drops, unexplained free floating EMFs (Electro Magnetic Fields), shadow figures, feelings of being watched, feeling that you are being touched, and growls emanating from unknown origins…,” they reported on their web site.

            “One of our parked vehicles had the head lights and interior lights turned on when all investigators were across the bridge and this phenomena took place at the time we captured an EVP saying ‘get in your truck and leave,’” they claimed on the web site report, along with a recording of the actual EVP. “While walking the area on the anniversary of the battle, an investigator complained of sudden pain in the arm as if she’d been struck with something. After removing a jacket and rolling up a sleeve, a round red mark about the size of a dime was visible. The investigator reported feeling as if she’d been ‘hit’ with something small and it burned like being stabbed with a hot iron. The description of the sensation is similar to that given by gunshot victims. The pain eased after about thirty minutes but the mark lasted a few hours then faded.”
             They have posted paranormal activity — in this case EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) — on their web site as well.

This was excerpted from "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" by Cheré Coen, published by The History Press.

Ghost hunting in New Orleans

            The lights dimmed in the historic ballroom of the Bourbon Orleans and only the sound of Chip Coffey’s voice could be heard. The medium known for A&E’s “Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal” was in New Orleans to promote his latest book, “Growing Up Psychic,” and after an introductory session wanted to see if the ballroom’s ghosts were real.

            The French Quarter hotel owns a long and varied history, first built as the Théâtre d’Orléans (Orleans Theater) with accompanying ballroom, then as the site for the Quadroon Balls, where light-skinned African American women became mistresses to Creole men through “plaçage” or a strict social arrangement. One of those women, Henriette DeLille, chose the church instead, forming a small congregation known as the Sisters of the Holy Family. The nuns later purchased the Orleans Ballroom.

            Today, the Sisters have moved to a different area of the city and the old buildings have been torn down and replaced for the gracious Bourbon Orleans hotel, complete with restaurant, center pool and patio area and lounge. The historic ballroom remains, however, the only original structure of the early incantation.

            Also remaining are a few ghosts.

            “We’ve done a lot of investigations in here,” explained Etienne Skrabo, an intuitive and tour guide with Gray Line Tours.

            Skrabo identified one of the ghosts as “Giselle,” a woman who received two contracts while visited the balls. The first gentleman died and the other left, Skrabo explained, and Giselle presently hangs out by the ballroom’s chandelier or looking forlorn while gazing out the ballroom windows.

            Another ghost is the Confederate soldier, a hazy apparition who floats through the hallways. On one occasion, a tourist captured the soldier in a photo, standing right behind Skrabo as he performed his tour.

6th Floor Hallway

            But the ghosts that Coffey picked up on the night he visited were the small children playing about, causing havoc with his flashlights. Coffey demonstrated an easy way to perform ghost hunting, by turning an LED flashlight off but by a hair, so that a small movement would cause it to turn back on. Once the two flashlights were off and sitting on the desk before him, Coffey asked the spirits present to turn them back on.

            They came on instantly. And then it happened again. And again.

            Back and forth the flashlights flickered while he asked questions, sometimes in response to his questions, sometimes just for fun.

            “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Coffey said.

            During his appearance in the Bourbon Orleans ballroom, Coffey felt the presence of two children and he believed their actions with the flashlights were mischievous. Skrabo confirmed that children have been seen in the hotel — the non-living kind — including a blond girl who plays on the staircase and enters hotel rooms, causing mischief. When the nuns owned the building they operated an orphanage and many children died in 1888 during a yellow fever epidemic.

Room 644

            I recently returned to the Bourbon Orleans to learn more about the apparitions haunting the hotel and the owners graciously placed me in the most haunted corner, Room 644. I’m not afraid of ghosts. After spending my career writing about ghost stories for south Louisiana newspapers and magazines, and just finishing my “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” book for The History Press, I was eager to see one for myself.

Room 644

            Legend has it that a nun committed suicide in Room 644, although the Sisters of the Holy Family have never confirmed such an event. The hotel claims that cries can be heard in this rooftop room over looking the city and actor James Franco, who stayed in the room during a recent film shoot, experienced the water faucet turning on and off on its own accord.

            Sadly, I experienced nothing. However, another travel writer in my party, only a few doors down, was kept up all night by an unseen hand turning the television on and off. She later related to me that she’s a sensitive, someone who picks up the paranormal easily and, like me, aren’t afraid of ghosts. But she did move to a different hotel to get some sleep. That night, I lingered in the hallway and invited whatever ghosts might be traveling the sixth floor into my room. But again, nothing.

            I spent the rest of my weekend in New Orleans sampling spirits of another variety, such as the refreshing cucumber martini in the Vive! Lounge of Hotel le Marais, a sazerac in the Sazerac Bar of the Roosevelt Hotel (does Huey Long haunt his old stomping ground?) and some amazing wine selections at Patrick’s Bar Vin in the Hotel Mazarin.

            What I did experience, however, was a long parade of stories from everyone I met. From the young ghostly girl who “travels” through the French Quarter, being seen at various hotels, to the smoking Confederate soldier who hangs out on the balcony of the Audubon Cottages. Muriel’s Restaurant in Jackson Square has its share, and then there’s the infamous Lalaurie Mansion, which could be its own story.
            Bottom line, if you visit New Orleans looking for ghosts, chances are you’ll find them, whether in person pulling your toes in the middle of the night, or in a great story told over a delicious cocktail.

This story was originally published in October, 2013, in City Social of Baton Rouge. Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana,” now on sale from The History Press.