Halcyon House - North West
INTRODUCTION
Located in the Georgetown district of Washington, DC Halcyon House, built by Benjamin Stoddert (1744 - 18 December 1813), the first United States Secretary of the Navy, is said to be haunted.
Following Stoddert's death in 1813 the house passed to a number of owners. During the Civil War its basement was connected to an underground railway road and was used by runaway slaves. It is said that some runaways died in the basement and began haunting it with ghostly cries. In the early 20th century the tunnel was walled up, but the cries continue to be heard.
In the 1930s Halcyon House passed to an eccentric called Albert Adsit Clemons. Clemons was passionate about building extensions on to the house, believing that as long as he worked on the house he wouldn't die. He worked like crazy, adding rooms, doors that opened to walls and a staircase that led nowhere. After he died in 1938, haunting in the house began to increase. On two separate occasions, occupants awoke at night to find themselves floating above their beds. A phantom woman, odd sounds, movements of objects and a ghost matching the description of Stoddert have all been reported.
In November 2011, Halcyon House is bought by Dr. Sachiko Kuno and Dr. Ryuji Ueno, and became a headquarter for the S&R Foundation, a non-profit organisation to support talented artists and scientists involved in work for charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes.
Benjamin Stoddert (1744 - 1813) First Secretary of the Navy
BENJAMIN STODDERT
Stoddert was born in Charles County, Maryland, in 1744, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and then worked as a merchant. He served as a captain in the Pennsylvania cavalry and later as secretary to the Continental Board of War during the American Revolutionary War. During the war, he was severely injured in the Battle of Brandywine and was subsequently released from active military service. In 1781, he married Rebecca Lowndes, daughter of Christopher Lowndes, a Maryland merchant, and they had eight children. They resided at the home of his father-in-law, Bostwick, located at Bladensburg, Maryland.
After George Washington was elected President, he asked Stoddert to purchase key parcels of land in the area that would become the nation's capital, before the formal decision to establish the federal city on the banks of the Potomac drove up prices there. During the 1790s, he also helped found the Bank of Columbia to handle purchases of land in the District of Columbia for the federal government.
He left office in March 1801 to return to commercial life. Following his term as Secretary of the Navy, Stoddert's final years witnessed a decline in his fortunes: as Stoddert lost heavily in land speculation, Georgetown declined as a commercial center, and the Embargo and the War of 1812 brought American overseas trade to a halt. During this period he lived at Halcyon House, on the corner at 3400 Prospect Street NW.
Benjamin Stoddert died on December 13, 1813, and is buried in the graveyard at Addison Chapel, Seat Pleasant, Maryland.
Halcyon House - South Elevation
HISTORY
Located in the heart of Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Halcyon House is a Federal style home just over 30,000 square feet. It was built in 1787 by Benjamin Stoddert. Its gardens were designed by Pierre L'Enfant, and for several decades in the early 19th century, Halcyon House was the centre of much of the Washington's social life.
After the death of his wife and his finances declining, Stoddert transferred ownership of Halcyon House in 1802 to his daughter, Elizabeth Ewell, and her husband, Thomas. Thomas and Elizabeth's sixth child, Richard S. Ewell, was born in the house in 1817, and he went on to become a noted Confederate general during the American Civil War under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. The Ewells vacated the home in 1818. A succession of owners had possession of the house over the next 80 years.
Halcyon House was sold in 1900 to Albert Clemens, a nephew of Mark Twain. The original structure was heavily altered over the next 38 years as Clemens renovated the house and added structures. He extended the house by 25 feet, adding a grand ballroom for parties, and created a new Prospect Street entrance in a Georgian Palladian style reminiscent of Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. Clemens believed that perpetually rebuilding the house would extend his life. The coach house was joined to the building, the north face and rear of the house added onto extensively with apartments, rooms were built within rooms, hallways added and then walled off, and even a small crypt added in one room.
After Clemens' death, the house stood unoccupied for four years until purchased by Dorothy W. Sterling, the wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. Ownership changed again in 1951, and Georgetown University (it wasn't a university then) bought the property in 1961 and used it as a dormitory.
Halcyon House was purchased by architect Edmund Dreyfuss in 1966 and, as of 2009, was occupied by his son, noted sculptor John Dreyfuss. The historic home was extensively reconstructed from 1978 to 1995 to restore it to its original appearance. The house and grounds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and during the period Dreyfuss maintained residency and ownership, served primarily as a venue for special events. Halcyon House was put on the market in 2008 for $30 million. It was re-listed in January 2010 and, as of September 20, 2010, had been on the market for 250 days and was listed at $19.5 million.
In November 2011 the Halcyon House sold for a price of $12.5 million to Dr. Sachiko Kuno, and Dr. Ryuji Ueno.
Look inside the Halcyon House
THE HAUNTING
The house is said to be haunted by Benjamin Stoddert, whose apparition has been seen walking through the house, sitting in chairs, or whispering. In the basement, the ghosts of numerous runaway salves are said to moan and cry. There is also the apparition of an unknown woman has been seen through an upstairs window. A six year old boy who was visiting said the ghostly woman rearranged his bed covers several times in the night. Some folks claim to have been levitated and turned around during the night, so their feet were on the pillow, and some say the attic is haunted by noises and odd lights. The house is also alleged to have served as part of the Underground Railroad.
Lights are occasionally snap off, supposedly by Clemens, who abhorred electricity and wouldn't install it. Stoddert himself may have occasionally been caught cat-napping.
