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Castle Hill Manor –
HauntedHouses.com

Haunted Place: Castle Hill Manor

LOCATION:

In Charlottesville, Virginia, a historical landmark Manor House, called "Castle Hill," was built before the Revolutionary War, in 1765, by a Dr. Thomas Walker.

Castle Hill Manor is privately owned & not open to the general public, especially ghost hunters. However, it may be possible for a student of history to have a short visit, if diplomacy beforehand is exercised and prior permission to visit is gotten, which might in turn result in an appointment to see the Manor. Check with the local Chamber of Commerce for more information.

DESCRIPTION:

Walker's Manor was strictly made of wood. Later on, in 1820, the brick additions were added onto the Manor by Senator William Cabell Rives, who loved French architecture. This love of French architecture can be seen in the entrance hall, which has twelve foot ceilings, and in the large garden, which was designed in the traditional French way.

MANIFESTATIONS:

Main center of activity happens in one of the suite rooms, that are located on the ground floor to the rear of the building, which happens to be the living space of a late owner, Amelie Rives, a female poet and author. (She is buried on the grounds of the Manor, in the family plot.) The pink bedroom in this suite is the lightning rod for ghostly activities, which have gone on for a long time. No one knows for sure who the ghost(s) could be.

1.	Amelie Rives had smelled many times a scent of a strange perfume, which wasn't recognized as any of her own fragrances.
2.	Many guests who have slept in this room have been aroused and sometimes really frightened by uncanny noises or footsteps. Some guests, over the years, have seen a female, and describe her as a young, pretty woman, who is sometimes playful and whose main goal is to disturb the people that she doesn't like sleeping in her room. However, other guests that she does like have slept in peace in her room, which supports the legend that she is discerning as to whom she scares or annoys. The writer, Julien Green, who was a firm disbeliever in ghosts, left in a big hurry after staying the night in the pink room.
3.	PSYCHIC RESEARCH: Hans Holzer and his sensitive friend, Virginia Cloud, visited the room, and both of them felt vibrations of a second, "fine, almost gentle," being, who was watching them both. They concluded that there were 2 presences in the pink bedroom.

After visiting the pink room, Holzer thinks that the mischievous, "ghostly lady" is from the Revolutionary War Era, when British General Banastre Tarleton & his troops had occupied Castle Hill.

Dr. Walker, the owner at this time, was a devout patriot who not only served the British their breakfast, but used other forms of hospitality to delay them as long as he could, so that Jefferson could escape capture in Charlottesville. Although there is no proof, Holzer suspects that this "ghostly lady" could be one of the ladies of the Manor that could have helped Dr. Walker delay some British officer(s) by using her charms, all for the good of the Revolution. Several such occurrences are known and confirmed to have happened among other patriot women and British Officers, who didn't mind at all the "intrigues of American ladies."

No firm guesses were offered as to whom the second presence, "the gentle spirit," could be exactly, except to say that it could be a former owner of Castle Hill, perhaps Amelie Rives?

WITNESSES:

Past owners of Castle Hill, Amie Rives, many guests from over the years, possibly Julien Green, Hans Holzer and Virginia Cloud.

STILL HAUNTED:

Probably yes.

Nothing has been done to exorcise any ghost from the pink room and the surrounding area. Owners through out the years have accepted the entities as being part of Castle Manor.