Oh By gosh By Golly, Its Time for Showcase Friday!
Well its Friday once again and time for your favorite Showcase Friday section, where I feature a Haunted or Rumered to be Haunted location. Or maybe its about famous murder and Mayham of my own choosing and I bring them to you for your enjoyment and to bring you deeper into my world of Ghost Hunting. So this weeks location is located in Lancaster Ohio to a famous abandoned house there called.........
Mudhouse Mansion
To reach the house, you must travel up an old overgrown driveway that is off Mudhouse Road, the house can be seen from the road during the day but at night is totally invisible in the darkness. The driveway is right next to a smaller abandoned white house. Our first trip was at night which made things incredibly eerie, our second trip was during the day which enabled us to take some great photos. You must walk up the long driveway and climb over a little gate. Further up the drive on the left is a large building that must have been used as a guest house or storage area, as you walk past this building, Mudhouse will loom just ahead. The house is beautiful; imagine what it would have looked like in it's glory days. All of the lower windows are boarded so we climbed the stairs up the hill on the right side. We walked across the front of the house to a door on the second floor....which happened to be covered with boards but wide open. The inside is almost too much for words, we could've taken a thousand photos. There are many rooms filled with debris and forgotten furniture, almost every room has tall oval style Victorian windows. The main living room has around 4 or 5 battered chairs, and a huge array of windows with a great view to the outside, there is also a little fireplace in the wall across from this area. Over to the left is an old bedroom with a dirty creepy bed. There are 2 sets of stairs that lead down into the dark first floor, this is where we found an old stove, refrigerator, bathroom, and a small opening to a crawl space underneath.
HISTORY AND HEARSAY
In 1839 and in 1852 Christian and Eleanor Rugh purchased the property from Abraham Kagy and Henry Byler. The year it was built is uncertain, there are reports that it was built in the 1840's or maybe around 1900. The house was sold to Henry and Martha Hartman in 1910. When Henry hartman died in 1930, the property went to his daughter and is now owned by the Mast family. We called the Mast family for permission to visit the Mudhouse but were greeted with a very stern "NO, we do not do anything with that house!" .
The first local tale about this house is that a government official lived there after the Civil War and still imprisoned slaves; locking them in one of the outbuildings at night. One evening the slaves escaped, entered the house and slaughtered the entire family. Others say another family was murdered there, and their ghosts haunt the property. There have also been rumors that the original 'Bloody Mary' lived in the house. The legend is as follows; all of her children were killed, either by her, or her husband and she is out for revenge. And the popular Urban Legend is that if you go in the house, stare into a mirror and say 'Bloody Mary' three times in a row, she will appear. However, this tale is told all over the world in different variations and is a little difficult to believe. without a doubt, its most infamous building. The issue surrounding Mudhouse Mansion is not necessarily its remote location, nor is it the sad state of its inside. The issue that surrounds Mudhouse Mansion is its owner, Jeannie Mast. Mudhouse Mansion was built during the 1840s, and consistently used as a private residence, albeit a very large one. Christopher and Eleanor Rugh were the first two owners of Mudhouse Mansion. They purchased the land from two men, Abraham Kagy and Henry Byler. It isn't clear though as to who built the house, but it seems like the Rugh's built it after buying the land. Some say the Rugh's purchased the land in two parts, at different points in time from the two men. The house later sold to Henry Hartman and his wife Martha in 1919, and they lived there for a number of years. When Henry passed away, the house was passed down to his daughterr Lulu Hartman-Mast. The house has also been known by a few other names. Heritage of Architecture and Arts listed it as the Rugh-Mast House, while locals refer to it as Hartman Place.
Very interesting house, even though the owner is a real bitch I guess and will prosecute anyone on her perperty. I have never been there but would at least one day drive by it and see if I get any feeling of energy about the place. I think its a shame they would not renovate the place. Its a beautiful all brick home.
