Bringing Back Sligo

Category: Main House

• Paint Choices

  Posted at 8:36 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on October 22, 2019

  This isn’t our first rodeo when it comes to renovating a home.  Since I’ve known Marcus he’s renovated about four homes, only one of which we lived in as a family.  Previously, we lived in Williamsburg and our house there was a foreclosure with water leaking through the ceiling, parts of the floor missing, and foundation issues out the wazoo.  Granted, it wasn’t a 130 year old Victorian but it hadn’t been maintained and it showed.  For three years we Marcus worked on renovating the house with the intention of either selling it or renting it, whichever made the most sense in the long-run.  So, while I wasn’t entirely thrilled about purchasing Sligo I wasn’t surprised that Marcus thought it would be a good idea; Marcus has the ability to see the potential in a home when others cannot…either that or he’s a masochist.

  This all to say that we have renovated homes before but always with the mindset that whatever upgrades and changes we made would be neutral allowing for the house to be easy to sell or rent when the time came.  Decisions were relatively easy to make.  What color should we paint the walls?  Neutral.  What type of flooring should we put in the bathroom?  Neutral vinyl.  What color carpet?  Neutral.  Are there two nice, neutral options?  Which one is cheaper?  You get the point.  I am also a fan of conformity so every room had the same light fixtures and everything matched and can I just tell you, a 130 year old home does not lend itself to an OCD conformist.

  Recently we’ve had to really up our game and start making decisions for down-the-line and it’s a lot of pressure.  Our very kind general contractor has gently been nudging us forward to choose kitchen cabinets, light fixtures, and…*gasp*…paint colors.  Paint color decisions?  Is hard.  I mean, we are the couple who can rarely decide where to eat out on the rare occasion we get a date night so can you imagine how overwhelming it is to walk into the local Benjamin Moore which boasts literally 3500+ colors?!  Also, and I may have mentioned this before, I hate painting so I really want the paint choices to last us for the rest of our lives.  Also, also, the walls are nearly 11 feet high and I will absolutely not be painting them unless I can go all Jackson Pollock.

  In a rare show of decisiveness, Marcus and I recently went over to Sligo armed with Benjamin Moore brochures and “Old House Journal” magazines for inspiration.  We went room to room on the second floor, narrowing down the field of 3500+ colors to three per room.  From there, we engaged our gaggle of friends at the local brewery who helped us narrow down our choices to one per room and voilà!  That is how we chose the second floor room colors.

  But wait!  It couldn’t be that easy.  It turns out children have opinions.  Who knew?  Innocently, I told our girls that we had chosen a shade of pink and a shade of blue for each of their bedrooms.  I say “innocently” because one of our girls is a pink kind of girl and our other girl is a blue kind of girl and how could we possibly get it wrong?  (That’s a redundant question.)  After revealing the paint choice information both girls told me they wanted a blue room.  Ookkkaaayyy…

  So, I innocently (again) involved them in the decision making by offering them the three choices of blue we had originally picked.  Our pink kind of girl mulled over the blue choices but ultimately she stuck with pink, choosing a slightly lighter shade but one that both Marcus and I were happy with.  However, in doing so, she gave the illusion of having chosen her room color and things quickly turned ugly.  Our blue kind of girl had also been perusing the paint color choices and set her sights on a Tiffany Blue deviating drastically from Marcus’s and my plan for the bedrooms to be quiet, peaceful spaces.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Tiffany Blue specifically on little boxes, but an entire room of Tiffany Blue seems like a bit much.  When our blue kind of girl realized she wasn’t going to get the color of her choice she more or less lost her shit (sorry, not sorry, there’s really no other way to put that) and we told her to sleep on it and we would talk about it in the morning.

  Needless to say, this morning I was able to talk our blue kind of girl off of her Tiffany Blue ledge and nudge her into a more subtle, yet still quite blue, shade of blue.  She’s happy and feels as if she made a decision regarding her bedroom ,the youngest is happy (which is rare) and Marcus and I feel like we moved-up a parenting level though still have far to go.

  Posted in Contractors, Life, Main House | 0 Comments

• Another Fun Read!

  Posted at 5:35 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on September 25, 2019

  I have a surprise for you!  Shortly after I posted the information about Mrs. Scott-Johnson I was contacted by a great granddaughter of P.L. Shannon!  I had been secretly hoping someone from the Shannon family would reach out to me without me having to turn full stalker and see who I could find and for that I am truly grateful.

  So, without further ado, I will share with you what she wrote and it is all very interesting (if you’re as interested in Sligo’s history as I am, anyway).  We even get the answers to a few questions such as why Sligo ceased operating as a farm and who built the cottage (gah!!!).

  Note:  I have joined two emails into one so as to streamline the information.  Also, because I am a nerd who likes to make life harder than it should be.

  I wish I had more memories for you but I was pretty young at the time. Here’s  what I remember:

  I am the oldest of Price’s 3 biological great-granddaughters. I raised at least one steer for 4-H on the property and was encouraged to be a “farm girl.” My sisters are probably too young to have spent much time on the property and additionally were encouraged to join other in-town activities, such as Girl Scouts, instead of building memories on the farm. I was born in 1951, and my sisters were born in 1954 (after Price died) and 1958. I am probably your best resource from my family and glad to help if I can.

  Price’s 3rd wife Mollie had the daughter who lived near Baltimore. I have kept in touch with Mollie’s grandchildren, most of whom live in California. After Price’s death, Mollie lived at Kenmore Lodge on Princess Anne St. for years until she moved to her daughter’s. The farm house was then used as the farm manager’s residence. The manager I remember was Jimmy Linton. I do not remember the interior of the house, possibly because I was so little/because of its use as the manager’s residence.

  The long term employee’s name I believe was Tunston (spelling?) Scott. I remember vaguely seeing him still working when I was little. I remember he was very well thought of…A valued person who helped at the farm for many years (part of the farm “family”). Mrs. Scott-Johnson’s part of the blog was fascinating and her memories excellent!

  The rectangle building across from the main house was built by my father as his farm office. The cattle buildings were at the back of the lane behind the main house and office. When I was little, the farm was an active Angus breeding operation. Some of the cattle were shown as far away as Chicago. Others were raised for their beef. My parents were part of the Virginia Angus Association and community. I remember Angus auctions being held at the farm. The cattle auctions on the property were an “event.” Cattlemen from all over the state would come to make bids. I remember the auctioneer with his “auctioneer-style” language (nonstop fast bidding technique)…it was fascinating to listen to.

  As I remember, the office was white painted wood siding with shutters (possibly dark green) (Note from Lauren:  It would have matched the paint color of Sligo at the time). As I remember, my father’s office was a room in the back (straight back from the door) (Another note from Lauren:  Now it is a kitchen). The front room housed a farm secretary’s desk and file cabinets. The location of the office was across from the farm house…maybe set a little farther down the lane…but near the house. There was also a chicken coop behind the main house. It was definitely a fully operating farm property.

  Price was good friends with Henry Warden in West Virginia, where Price originally lived. Price and Henry both moved to Fredericksburg around 1900. Henry Warden owned the adjacent farm Hazel Hill. Price and Henry continued to be good friends after their move to Fredericksburg. Price lost his leg in a farming accident and had a prosthesis.

  Apparently Sligo was originally purchased around 1900 by my other great-grandfather Henry Warden as part of a group of land parcels. As I said…Henry lived at Hazel Hill, an adjacent farm, and my guess is that both properties were operated together with Price’s help. Price’s son Sidney Sr. married Henry’s daughter Grace. Grace died when my father Sidney Jr. was born, and Sligo became part of her estate. I do not know when the property was officially transferred to Price, but regardless of the name on the title, Price was its “owner” and resident from the early 1900’s. I do know my father dearly loved Price, who helped raise my father, after Grace’s death.

  My father…moved back to town about 1949 to help Price run the farm. Sometime around 1960 (as I remember) the farm was annexed into the city, which made it unfeasible to continue to be operated as a farm. The Angus operation was moved to other property owned by my father and the Sligo property was eventually sold. The name of the cattle operation, at least when my father was involved, was Lee Hill Farm (separate from your Sligo house designation). The Hazel Hill and Sligo farm properties extended from where the Hazel Hill Apartments now stand all the way to Sylvania Plant as fields and pastures and probably as far back as the river…i.e. that entire side of the road.

  I wish you had seen the farm with its cattle.  It was a beautiful setting.  One memory:  One of the Angus bulls at the farm often grazed in the front field next to the road (across from the main house and in front of the office). He would sit on his haunches like a dog…very unusual for a bull…and he was nicknamed “Sitting Bull!”

  Posted in Cottage, Grounds, History, Main House, Shannon | 0 Comments

• Mrs. Scott-Johnson

  Posted at 8:24 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on August 29, 2019

  A few weeks after connecting with the various grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Scott I had the pleasure of actually meeting Mrs. Annette Scott-Johnson who had fond memories of Sligo as a little girl. She, her husband, and their daughter came to Sligo, curious to see it all of these many years later. I was met with such warmth I immediately felt at ease, as if meeting up with my own family and I was absolutely thrilled to take them through the house.

  As we toured Sligo Mrs. Scott-Johnson would describe what she remembered about various parts of the house and the Shannon family who employed her family for many, many years.  Below is a transcript of my telephone conversation with Mrs. Scott-Johnson on July 26th and posted with her permission. The sentences in parenthesis are my own interjections and explanations.

  “Grandfather worked for the Shannon’s as a handyman for 52 years. (I was later told that their grandfather would receive a new truck from the Shannon’s every year because he was constantly driving to their many farms which were located at Sligo, where Central Park is today, and on Landsdowne Road.) At that time I was around five or six years old when I can remember and I, used to being the oldest grandchild, I lived next door to him so I was at that farmhouse at least four days a week. My grandmother worked there as a cook. So he would go in the mornings and there were a couple of cows he would milk and he would come home and have breakfast and pick-up my grandmother and take her over.

  The side porch where you come into the farm we always came in on the side porch and that’s where Mr. Shannon always sat and I would sit out there and talk with him waiting for my grandmother to finish work. (Mrs. Scott-Johnson remembers as a child wishing she had a bike and mentioning it to her grandmother in the vicinity of Mr. Shannon. Next thing she knew she had a shiny new bike waiting for her.) I don’t know after the house was sold if people made modifications because the house sat vacant and the people before you everyone said were hippies because they painted it kind of a pink and yellow color. Before it was a nice, pretty, white house.

  The last time I was in the house was 1952 or 1953 (the year she graduated from high school) after the first people bought it, it was looking kinda hippy from the highway. I can tell you how the house looked when I went over as a child. When you came off the side porch the kitchen was to the right (which means the kitchen was in the small addition at the back of the house and was tiny) and the dinning room was to the left. To me it was huge, because I was a kid. Mr. Shannon sat at the head of the table so he could see out the door.  (Mrs. Scott-Johnson even remembered where she would sit at the table when she was visiting with the grandchildren of the Shannon’s.)

  If you walked straight it was a small hall and a bathroom to the left and then you made a left and that was a big wide hall. Mr. Shannon never slept upstairs because he was heavy and had a bad leg (I later was told that he may have had a prosthetic leg) and right there they had a bedroom and past his bedroom was another room they considered the living room and then it was the front porch. Around April or May 1953 they had Mr. Shannon’s body on display in that wide hall.

  I didn’t go upstairs much because it was Mr. and Mrs. Shannon living in the house but I understand he had been married three times. The second wife, Molly, she suggested my name “Annette Marie” (after the Canadian Dionne quintuplets born around the same time). We had a relationship with them for years because…I’ll be 84 years old. (She said she would play with Mrs. Shannon’s daughter’s children who came from Baltimore and that’s the only time she would be upstairs.)

  I spent my time inside and John (her cousin who still lives across the street in Mayfield) spent more time outside.

  (She moved away in 1955) but up until 1990 I was down there every week and then after my mother got sick I was down there every Thursday for 10 years. And as the years went by the shrubs grew up and the house started looking worse. It was a beautiful place when I was a little girl. (She was born on the 31st of July,just celebrating her 84th birthday).

  Where the pool is now it was a wheat and hay field. At the interchange that was a big field and that’s where they had the Angus cows. There was nothing on that side of the highway but the Shannon farm. The Sylvania plant down to the left of the swimming pool all of that was just all open field. So it has really, really grown down in that area.”

  

  Mrs. Annette Scott-Johnson, August 16th 2019, standing off the side steps of Sligo. Where the two white chairs sit on the porch is where Mr. Shannon would sit, watching the comings and goings of the farm.

  .

  Posted in Grounds, History, Main House, Shannon | 2 Comments

• The Wonder of the Internet

  Posted at 1:49 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on August 26, 2019

  It’s a funny thing, the Internet.  There is a negative side of the Internet, a side that would have you believe the world is full of nothing but hate.  There is also a positive side of the Internet, a side that reminds us the world is still full of a lot of good.  Undoubtedly, it’s because of the Internet, and how small the world has become as a result, that we are acutely aware of both the good and the bad in the world.  Lucky for you, this a story of the good Internet and a story of personal growth because I have come to realize the Lauren who existed only a few short years ago is not the Lauren who exists today.

  For some reason, nighttime for me is prime Interneting time.  It’s a time when I do my writing, my researching, my Facebook stalking perusing, my Instagraming, etc.  I don’t know why this is but I think it stems from when the girls were really little and nighttime was the only time I had for quiet.  Regardless, it’s a bad habit because sometimes I will read something that gets me really worked up and keeps me from falling asleep.  Or, in this case, I read something and I get so excited I immediately email our Dovetail consultant because Marcus is asleep and even if he was awake he wouldn’t be excited because he shows the same amount of emotion awake as he does asleep.

  Earlier this year I joined a group on Facebook called “You’re Probably From Fredericksburg If…” in an attempt to learn more about Sligo and the Cottage.  I don’t really follow this particular group very closely and as a result it’s rare that a post will show-up on my news feed.  But one night, right before bed, there was a post shared from the Shannon Airport Facebook page about a group of cousins who had gathered at the museum.  These cousins were the grandchildren of a married couple who worked for the Shannon family.  This caught my attention because the Shannon family owned Sligo for about 50 to 60 years in the early 20th century.

  As if that weren’t interesting enough the cousins had shared pictures of their grandmother and grandfather.  As I perused the old, sepia toned pictures I immediately recognized that the grandmother was standing just off the side steps of Sligo.  I have spent many days now standing in almost that exact same spot and there was no mistaken the cut of the sidewalk or the little bit of hand rail that can be seen.

  

  Mrs. Annie Hamm Scott standing just off the side porch steps of Sligo.  The water tower and most of the outbuildings in the background are no longer there.  (Photo retrieved from Shannon Airport Facebook page and property of the family of Mr. and Mrs. John Scott.)

  When I saw that picture I was so excited I immediately emailed our Dovetail consultant (as I stated earlier).  She probably thought I was nuts because it was about 10:00 at night and it definitely could have waited until the next day.  Regardless, we both agreed it matched previous descriptions and fire insurance maps of Sligo.  It was at this point that I decided to do something so outside of my comfort zone that I surprised myself:  I contacted the Shannon Airport Facebook page and asked if they would please pass my information on to the cousins in hopes that one of them would be willing to share what they knew about Sligo.

  The old Lauren would have been terrified to put herself out there.  I mean, the worst that could happen would be nobody would ever contact me and I would cry myself to sleep wondering what I did wrong and life would continue as is.  But, that’s not what happened.  Within hours of my message exchange with Shannon Airport I received a call from Mr. White, one of the cousins.  We had such a nice conversation and it turned out he had done some previous work on getting a church on the National Historic Registry so we had that in common.  However, he had not spent much time (if any) at Sligo and so he gave me his cousin’s name and number and whom he had already communicated with and was expecting my call.  All of a sudden I found myself in communication with perfect (lovely) strangers who didn’t know me at all but were willing to share their stories and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity.

   

  Posted in Grounds, History, Main House, Shannon | 1 Comment

• It Was an Interesting Night…Part III

  Posted at 7:19 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on August 1, 2019

  So, hearing a male voice when there wasn’t a male was…interesting.  As we all walked up the stairs from the basement I felt like a child again, not wanting to be the last one up and my back feeling so exposed to whatever might be down there.  Because of the male voice on the recording the paranormal team determined that perhaps the energies were more interested in communicating via EVP so we did a few more sessions in the same room of the basement.

  Carl, the only man on the team and who according to him the spirits care less to communicate with, decided to give it a try.  So Carl, my mom, and I went down to the basement.  Carl had barely started the EVP session when we heard Paris call from upstairs that the monitor had gone completely blank.  Everything else was running but the monitor had simply turned off.  Jokingly (though I took him very seriously), Carl said that whatever was in the basement wasn’t interested in talking to him.

  There were experiences that others had making it difficult for me to write about them because it wasn’t my own person having the experience.  Two people saw a shadow in the basement and asked for it to leave as it was not healthy to still be there.  Another person saw a full bodied figure walk near the Cottage.  While I did not see the shadow with my own two eyes I saw the reaction of the person who did and not even Meryl Streep could fake that.

  By 2:00 in the morning we were all wiped out.  We decided to break everything down and call it a night.  I don’t know if the paranormal team were disappointed in the lack of evidence or if this was a typical investigation for them.  Perhaps, when they get back home and review all of the video footage and EVP sessions something else will pop-up that nobody caught in the moment.

  Before the team left they assured me that whatever was in the house meant no harm.  As I looked at them wide-eyed, just a little panicked, Paula told me that when a spirit makes itself known it’s almost as if seeing a mouse; it’s totally unexpected and you may startle but then you calm down (although if I do see a mouse I know two household pets who have failed miserably at their job).  I’ll have to get back to you on exactly how I react to that first time seeing a spirit but I have a feeling it won’t be pretty.  I can say that while the events of the night weren’t so terrifying I still did not leave with a sense of belonging in the house.  Marcus travels so much and I just know the first night he is gone I’ll be calling my ride or die biatch to stay with me (because I’m fairly certain mom is out after this night).

  In the end there was just enough evidence and just enough inexplicable occurrences that there is no way to deny the existence of something in the house.  Sligo’s land is ancient, it’s foundation is nearly 260 years old, the house itself is 130 years old.  Imagine what has come and gone on that land from ancient peoples, to wars, to births and deaths.

  For a slightly more cheery end to this story both of my girls came running into my room the morning after and asked, as if it were Christmas, “Did you see a ghost?!”  When I told them I had not they left, thoroughly disappointed.  I don’t know what Marcus was so worried about.  They clearly think Casper the Ghost is there.

   

  Posted in Haunted, Life, Main House | 1 Comment

• It Was an Interesting Night…Part II

  Posted at 7:48 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on July 31, 2019

  Man, the more I think about it the more this may be a three parter…

  So, where were we?  Marcus and I were invited to be a part of the paranormal investigation at Sligo.  It was a no-brainer for me and I immediately said “yes.”  Marcus wasn’t as into the whole thing and opted out.  Damn that logical, engineer brain of his.  We did have one mutual concern though and that was we didn’t want our house to be known as “haunted” and people find out and try to get into into it.  Once we talked it over with the paranormal team we all agreed to do this with complete secrecy.  And now I’m writing about it so, secret’s out.

  Alright, so the day of the investigation the team arrives around 6:00 in the evening and start walking through the house.  On the paranormal team were Carl, Paula, and Paris.  On my “team” were my mom (hi mom!) and my ride or die biatch, Lori.  The two women from the paranormal team were particularly sensitive and I noticed a few times there were some areas of the house that appeared to affect them as they whispered back and forth.  Meanwhile, as we all walked through the house, questions were asked about its history and eyebrows were raised as I gave information such as its use as a small pox hospital.

  Once our tour of the main house was over we stood outside and chatted a bit about what Paula and Paris had felt or seen.  It was hard for them to articulate but it coincided with what I had been told by a previous resident of the house.  To touch on that a little, I haven’t written about what the previous resident told me because it isn’t my story to tell.  With that being said, I was excited for the night’s adventure to find out if I could validate their story.

  Almost immediately at least one experience of the previous resident was validated.  The two women had seen two “elemental energies” peaking out from the attic.  From my very rudimentary knowledge of the paranormal, “elemental energy” is less the energy of a person who passed and more of a natural energy of the surroundings.  It is known to be very impish or childlike in nature.  The very presence of these energies and the room in which they were seen lined up exactly with the previous resident’s story.

  Up to this point, everything was being discussed in front of our girls who listened, eyes wide.  I thought it was a very natural conversation to be having but Marcus was less than thrilled.  I have to admit, our youngest can be difficult challenging impossible and it was right to be concerned how she would eventually react to all of this knowledge.  He and the girls left after that with the youngest believing our conversation was about another person’s house.  Crisis averted.  (Funny side story:  That day I asked the girls what they thought a person should wear to a ghost hunt.  The oldest, and more pragmatic of the two, suggested all black.  The youngest suggested I wear a sheet with eyes and a mouth cut out so I would fit in better.  She then wanted me to be sure to take a picture with the ghost.  So, quite honestly, I don’t know if she was as affected by all of the ghost talk or not.)

  Anyway, after a break for dinner we all regrouped and the task of setting-up for the investigation began.  I never asked if what the paranormal team use for their investigations is proprietary or not so I will assume that it was and leave out detailed information.  Since I used to be an avid “Ghost Hunters” watcher I was feeling pretty confident in my skills and knowledge.  That’s pretty much where it ended though because the second we stepped into Sligo all confidence was lost.

  The first area of the house we wanted to investigate was in the aforementioned second floor room where Paula and Paris had seen the elemental energies.  My heart was pounding, my hands were sweaty (also because it was no less than one million degrees upstairs), and I really wanted to look up towards the attic but was too chicken shit to do so.  Paula and Paris both took turns trying to get the spirits to communicate with various methods but with very little success.  After some time, we went back downstairs.

  Once downstairs Carl told us we had a lot of orb activity that he could see on the monitor he was watching plus he was hearing footsteps from the porch through the foyer.  The next room we chose to look in was on the first floor and judging by the monitor, heavy with orb activity.  I was using a device to detect cold spots and at one point Paris asked me to hold still.  Paris, Lori, and I were all very intently looking at it when I had the distinct feeling that someone was almost cheek to cheek with me as if part of the group, viewing the screen.  I turned my head expecting to see Lori but she was a at least one foot away.  That was my first personal and inexplicable experience of the night.

  From the first floor we made our way to the basement into one room in particular that had seriously affected Paula and Paris when first touring the house.  We conducted an electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) session which consisted of Paula, Paris, my mom, and myself standing in complete silence as someone asks questions.  After about a minute of asking questions, the session ended and we played back the recording to listen for any abnormal noises.  About 10 seconds into the recording a very distinct, male voice can be heard saying “Here we go.”  There were not any men in the basement at that time.

  Posted in Haunted, Life, Main House | 2 Comments

• It Was an Interesting Night…Part I

  Posted at 10:07 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on July 30, 2019

  You’re going to have to excuse me and whatever I write because I didn’t get home until 3:00 in the morning and didn’t fall asleep until almost 4.  I was feeling a little wired and anxious over the night’s events and needed about an hour to crawl into bed and decompress which is why it took an hour to fall asleep.  Then, the kids, having a wanton disregard for my comfort, were awake and running into my room around 7 excited to see if I had survived the night.

  I had survived the night though I felt totally hungover.  I think it was a combination of a lack of sleep, dehydration, and (dare I say?) getting older.  I texted my girlfriend who was with me last night, “Is this a sign of aging? *crying emoji crying emoji crying emoji*” and she said it was because she’s usually the voice of reason.  Then we reminisced about how when we were in our 20s we could drink out butts off, go to bed well after 3:00 in the morning, and wake up feeling less crappy.  I don’t necessarily miss those days but I do miss having a little more resiliency.

  By this point, two whole paragraphs in, you’re probably wondering what the heck am I talking about?  So, I shall tell you.  A few months ago I posted on Facebook that every now and then a picture I thought I took at Sligo would not be in the gallery on my phone.  It was a semi-sarcastic/semi-serious post because it is true.  The few times a pictures has gone missing it has always only been pictures I have taken at the house.

  Anyway, the next morning I woke-up to a message from the head of a paranormal investigation team who asked for me to call him.  I did and we talked and I told him the few things I knew about the house and alluded to some experiences I knew others had.  Eventually, and over the course of a month or so, we set-up a time for he and his team to come out and investigate Sligo.  And, the best part out of all of that?  Marcus and I were invited to tag along…

  To be continued…(and yes, I have a very devilish grin right now because I just know there are are a few of you who are probably freaking out reading this).

  Posted in Haunted, Life, Main House | 2 Comments

• How’s the Cottage Coming Along?

  Posted at 2:21 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on July 20, 2019

  The other night I had a dream in which both my sister-in-law and I shaved our heads bald.  I texted her and told her about it and gave my own, uneducated psychological diagnosis for the dream which was “we’re losing our shit.”  The funny thing was, even though she had shaved her head she still looked gorgeous with long, flowing locks.  I, on the other hand, looked like Gollum.  I’m not trying to make this into a pissing match but, I think it means I’m legit going crazy.

  So, to catch you all up:  We moved-in with my mom last August (hi, mom!).  We decided the best course of action would be to renovate the Cottage and move-in while the Main House was being renovated.  I think the logic there was the Cottage is significantly smaller and therefore should take less time to fix-up.  So, our first, self-imposed deadline to be moved into the Cottage was before Christmas.  Then it was after Christmas.  Then, I think it was Easter.  Then it was the end of July…

  

  Me, whenever someone asks how the renovations are going and when we’re moving into the Cottage.

  In retrospect, when we purchased the property, the Cottage was in a worse state than that of the Main House.  A portion of the roof was gone and the house had been open to the elements for years.  Obviously, the entire roof needed to be replaced plus we had to replace an entire wall and flooring on both the first and second floors.  Animals had made a home in it and it had signs of people staying in it as well.  In other words, it was in really bad shape and while we Marcus has certainly come a long way in the repairs it still remains uninhabitable.

  Anyway, as time has gone on and the renovations of both the Cottage and the Main House have begun to pace each other, it occurred to me that we might as well wait and simply move into the Main House when it is ready.  The conversation was had about a month or so ago when I mentioned that it might be better for the family if we didn’t have to move, what would essentially be, three times in one year.  Yesterday, after working in the ungodly heat which I suppose is what brought about the following epiphany, Marcus  mentioned he thought it might be better for the family if we didn’t have to move, what would essentially be, three times in one year.  Huh.  That sounded familiar.

  I have yet to really finesse the fine art of letting the man think he makes all of the wonderful decisions in the family so instead of saying “That’s a great idea!” I said something more like “Oh, funny, because I said the same exact thing not that long ago” followed by an accusatory eyebrow raise (my humility is a work in progress).  Despite it totally being my idea to begin with but Marcus getting the credit for it (dang it, there I go again) we are now on the same page and will be staying with my mom until the Main House is completed.

  When asked if she would be alright with us continuing to live with her all my mom had to say was she was definitely going to be buying her rather skittish dog a set of noise canceling headphones.

  Posted in Cottage, Life, Main House | 0 Comments

• Sligo as a Hospital

  Posted at 7:39 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on July 18, 2019

  To continue our lecture on the fact and fiction of Sligo we now turn to the hospital stories.  If you read the Works Progress Administration (WPA) report or any other articles regarding the house you will find that the previous home at Sligo was a Revolutionary War hospital, a hospital for the local Gunnery Factory, a smallpox hospital, a Civil War hospital, a hospital just for the sake of being a hospital, and a doll hospital because, why not?  That last bit isn’t true, just so you know (sarcasm can be hard to get across when writing).

  I have found a few definitive instances of Sligo being used as a smallpox hospital.  According to Quinn, in 1790 and 1792 the sick were quarantined at Sligo and attended to by a Dr. Brooke and Dr. Kerr (The History of the City of Fredericksburg Virginia, p. 66).  Also, Deaderick did use a legitimate source in her WPA report for Sligo when she cited Council Minutes from 22 June 1796:  “…the Overseers of the Poor be requested to rent the house at ‘Sligo,’ at present occupied as a hospital, to be used as such for one year, and that Dr. Kerr be requested to attend the said hospital when it shall be necessary” (WPA, Sligo – Site, 2 June 1937).  In a few of the reports it states that the house is unoccupied before being commissioned as a hospital and I am not sure what that means exactly.  It does, however, confirm my belief that some people owned the land but never lived there (that’s a post for another day as it is still very much a work in progress as I try to determine who was who and where and when and why and sometimes how).

  A third instance of the house being used as a hospital comes from the City of Fredericksburg’s Historic Court Records archive online (https://www.fredericksburgva.gov/998/Historic-Court-Records) and is written as follows:

  A notice issued this morning calling all the magistrates together to fix upon a site proper for the establishment of an hospital for the diseased with the smallpox, when it was unanimously agreed (present: Robert Lewis, Mayor; William Gordon, Recorder; William J. Roberts; John Hart; and, William Allen, J.P.) that the house now unoccupied belonging to John Ferneyhough near the banks of the Rappahannock below the Hazle Run be immediately prepared for the reception of the sick – that a guard of two men be employed to watch night & day alternately to prevent any communication with the neighborhood & town & to prevent all intercourse with the hospital unless it be by the nurse, physician & those who furnish diet to the sick. At a meeting of the Common Hall yesterday (Present: Thomas Goodwin; William Gordon; Robert Parrott; Henry T. Phillips; Robert Mackay; Joseph Walker; Charles Austin; and, Robert Ellis) to take into consideration the propriety of providing by appropriation for the sick & diseased with the smallpox in the natural way. It was ordered that one hundred dollars be set apart for the purpose & that the Mayor be directed to draw for the same at his discretion for the above purposes.

  I have yet to confirm if the house was truly used as a hospital during any of the wars it has witnessed.  During the Civil War in particular, I find it hard to believe that it was used as a hospital because the Union soldiers looted and ransacked the property after the Ferneyhoughs fled.  It’s also really only speculation that it was a doll hospital however, there were approximately nine little girls (perhaps more) born and raised at the property so one could assume it admitted quite a few injured dollies.  So, despite the concrete evidence for some of the mentions of the house as a hospital, it is safe to say that Sligo has seen it’s fair share of sickness and sadness.

  Posted in Grounds, History, Hospital, Main House, Wars | 1 Comment

• Paranormal Activity or User Error?

  Posted at 12:22 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on April 14, 2019

  I have hesitated to write about my possible paranormal experience at the house because I don’t want you all to think I am crazy (spoiler alert:  I am).  In all honesty, I cannot say whether I do believe in ghosts though I love a good, real-life ghost story.  I have never experienced a haunting aside from the few times I have been walking up a set of stairs and my brain tells me someone is behind me and I race to the top to escape (and don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about).

  Last week I gave a tour of the house to my friend, her mom, and her mom’s sisters.  We made it to the master bedroom area and from there you can look down, onto the porch roof.  We added snowbirds to the roof which are there to stop ice from falling on a person’s head…I think…I mean, that’s the general idea.  There could be more to them but that’s how I understand their existence.  The ladies that were touring the house didn’t know what they were and suggested I take a picture to add them to the Instagram page with an explanation of what they are.  I did just that, took a picture with my phone and then we moved on.

  Later that evening, I went back to look at the picture and post it to Instagram but it wasn’t there.  No big deal.  User error.  I figured I would take another one next time I went to the house.

  Marcus and I went to the house this past Friday and I specifically ran upstairs before we left so I could take a picture of the snowbirds.  I made sure to check that the picture had been taken and we left.  Again, later that evening, I went to post the picture to Instagram and…it wasn’t there.  Now I don’t know what to think.  I mean, newfangled technology confuses me from time to time but taking a picture is pretty straightforward.  To take a picture of the same thing twice and to somehow lose it twice is strange.

  What do you think?  Is there a friendly spirit messing with me or is it user error?
  Posted in Haunted, Main House | 0 Comments

• Recent Posts

  • Preoccupied December 20, 2021
  • The “Haunting” of Sligo August 4, 2021
  • Rehabilitation Tax Credits April 27, 2021
  • Put Me in Blogger Jail April 6, 2021
  • Virginia Historic Registry and the National Landmark Registry August 6, 2020
  • My Good Boy, Axel July 14, 2020

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