Avenel House; Bedford, VA
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Avenel House; Bedford, VA
October 17, 2008: Avenel House investigation; Bedford, VA
Built circa 1838 by William M. Burwell and his wife, Frances Steptoe Burwell, Avenel has been the centerpiece of social, cultural, and political life in Bedford, VA for over 150 years. In 1906, Avenel was purchased from the Burwell family by J.W. Ballard. The home remained in the Ballard family until 1985 when it was purchased by the non-profit Avenel Foundation. Guests of Avenel House include authors Edgar Allan Poe, George Bagby, General Robert E. Lee (the table from which he drank his morning coffee still stands in the house), and it is speculated that Thomas Jefferson himself visited the house, as one of the Burwell men was his Secretary.
We had been excited about visiting Avenel for many months- it is lauded as one of the most actively haunted places in central & southwest Virginia. Many paranormal research groups have gone in before and always with reports of unexplained activity. A few of the consistent reports include an apparition of the ‘Lady in White’ that walks the grounds and sometimes Avenel Avenue, or that paces the main hallway within the house seemingly in wait for something, or someone. The Lady is sometimes seen in an upstairs window, or occasionally strolling the garden with a uniformed soldier. There have also been reports of disembodied voices, unexplained footsteps, the rustling of a woman’s skirt, the scent of tobacco and perfume, and even the meow of an unseen cat! I was told by Sue Sereno of Ghostec, who has visited the place many times, that she and a fellow investigator had once visited the former owner of the house for a private tour and to learn more about the physical and paranormal history of the place. Upon walking into the flower garden, the two investigators looked up to a second floor window to see the figure of an older woman, hair up in a bun and high collared dark dress, peering down at them. As the investigators were visibly startled, the home-owner very casually confirmed their siting as indeed a former resident of the home who had continued to stay with the family since her death.
The night was fairly quiet for us- we spent a good amount of time trying to find a logical source for the reported sound of a tray crashing to the floor that had been reported by several workers and was even caught on tape by Ghostec. We were unable to recreate this sound or find a reasonable source of the sound. One interesting experience that two investigators had while outside on the Avenel Avenue side of the house was the sound of the side door unlatching and turning as if someone was about to come out onto the porch. Upon inspection, the door was locked, secured tightly, and the nearest team was upstairs on the other side of the house. We had a video camera set up just on the inside of this door shooting back down the hallway, but interestingly (and unfortunately) the battery had run out just prior to this experience according to the video time stamp. Battery drain? Possibly.
Another investigator, while sitting quietly in the conference room (Mr. Burwell’s bedroom) hear a slight rustling near the fireplace, and likened the sound to the crinkling of wrapping paper- about the same time, the same investigator felt a gentle brush against her lower leg and got the impression that is was a cat rubbing against her (owning three cats herself). Could this have been the same cat others have felt and heard?
Avenel is a very quiet and distinctly peaceful place, but there is an aire to the house, even on still nights, that something remains of its former inhabitants. We look forward to the opportunity to continue our quest to capture tangible evidence of the ghosts of Avenel.
Tags: apparition, bedford, civil war, EVP, ghost, haunted, lynchburg, paranormal
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