The Haunting of Summerwind Mansion, Part One | Grave Talks CLASSIC

0:00Today on the Grave Talks, the haunted Summer Wind Mansion. The mere mention of the name Summer Wind Mansion is instantly connected to the word haunted when discussed in the state of Wisconsin. The haunted Summer Wind Mansion has a story spanning more than a century. That story runs deep through many families, rumors of insanity, demonic activity, and ghosts. The haunted Summer Wind Mansion is infamous, not so much for who lived there, but why they couldn't live there. Many have been drawn to the property for unexplained reasons or forces. To date, almost all of its residents who attempted to occupy the fabled structure have found themselves also compelled or forced to leave with just as much drive. Why does the haunted Summer Wind Mansion have such powers? This is a question hundreds have been asking since it was built more than a hundred years

1:05ago. In the 1980s, a fire broke out at the now vacant Summer Wind Mansion. The result was a foundation and chimney structure still intact surrounded by charred remains in the wooden home. The official story was at lightning struck the building, others questioned if it was more sinister than this. Once the physical building has become a ruin, hundreds of paranormal investigators have visited the site, many telling stories of being drawn back time and time again by an unknown force. Several have even tried to raise funds to rebuild the Summer Wind. What evidence has been found and collected at the site of the mansion? We discuss this with paranormal investigator Chad Lewis in our interview. We discuss the strong feelings that many have had about the Summer Wind over a century. And the ghosts and spirits that may still infest the Summer Wind Mansion. Chad, how did it all start for the Summer Wind? Well Summer Wind Mansion would sit way up north on the border of Wisconsin and the UP, the

2:11upper peninsula of Michigan. It sits on a beautiful land of the area of land at West Bay Lake. And as long history of course the native peoples were up there and then some explorers and French explorers came in, the 1700s. And the home itself dates back to the late 1800s, early 1900s. And James Frank was the first owner of a property on the lake and they used it as a resort or a luxury retreat. And that was very common during those days for wealthy people especially to have cabins and resorts up in the north woods of Wisconsin. Now when people started going to this resort, what was life like at at the resort when it was a functioning place, paint that picture for us? Well by the time 1916 rolled around Robert Lamont bought the place and spent, there's a lot of speculation that he had the original building torn down, some say he just added

3:15to it. But he spent upwards of $125,000 constructing Summer Wind as it's now known in today's money that would be close to $2.5 million. So when people could rent a room out there, you can imagine the amount of luxury that was there. And in the north woods retreat where you were roughing it on the edges, this really was a home away from home. So people went up there for the healing powers of the north woods, cool temperatures, the fresh air, and they got away from the southern heat. When the beginning it was mostly regional people, the types that would just look for a little vacation in their neck of the woods. And in the mid 1900s that's when the wealthy started coming up and visiting their friends and family. And they of course had a ton of maids and servants that would be working at the establishment

4:19as well. And that's where some of the first legends of Summer Wind began with some of the maids and servants telling stories of something not quite being right in this home. And so something was off. They didn't feel they should be there. There was a sinister force behind this home. And of course none of them made too much of a fuss about it because it might mean the loss of their employment so they continued going along with it. So you're saying early on in its existence when people were actively going there, there was something that people knew the legend began back then while it was an active resort. Yes, that's when the legends first began. Their speculation that the land itself was thought to have been a cursed area long before that. But we have no historical record of that. Again, it's all speculation. But when it was starting to become very popular in the 1930s as the Prairie Moon Lodge, that's

5:23one a lot of people started reporting that ghostly activity and things out of the norm just weren't making sense at the resort. Let's talk about the rumors and the hearsay of it being a cursed area before we jump into some of those experiences that were occurring in the 1930s. What were some of the things that people were saying about it being a cursed area? Well, back in the 1700s, Jonathan Carver explored the area in the late 1770s and it was said that he had some disputes with the native tribes that were in the area, specifically the Soutraib and it was said that he had bought some deed from them of the land and there was a quarrel and all kinds of misunderstandings there that put bad blood on the location. And one of the theories today is that it's Mr. Carver that is haunting the place, still

6:25upset that he cannot find his deed or he lost the deed or he was swindled out of the land, variations of that. So that's where the legend really began that there was something in its origin that set it apart from every other place in the area. How far is it away from other structures? Is it a kind of off by itself or is it in a resort-ish area when you think of properties not too far from each other? Back in the day, it had a lot more land to it. It was a sprawling estate with a lot of acres and year by year as every owner took over the place and tried to restore it and renovate it. They would often end up selling off parcels of land in order to keep the main structure going. As you can imagine, it was a lot of upkeep and repair, especially in this area of Wisconsin when the weather is brutal. The weather takes a toll on your structures that if you're not upkeeping them every year,

7:31you know, it doesn't take long for them to almost be falling over. Sure, with the harsh winters and loads and loads of snow on top of buildings, that's something that a lot of folks who are not from the area don't even think about just how brutal it can be on a building that's not constantly kept up. Let's go back to the 1930s and some of the first ghostly experiences that people were having at the summer win. What were some of the things that people were saying and talking about? Well, the moths were still there and they were disbelievers. They didn't believe that any of the servants or the maids were actually having troubles. You know, they thought it was nothing more than superstitious, hired help that were prone to exaggeration. But it wasn't until the legend is they were having dinner one night and they saw a spirit walk into the dining room where the father grabbed a pistol allegedly and shot twice at this spirit before it disappeared, leaving two big bullet holes in the doors.

8:36Now what's interesting is years, years later after it had been abandoned for a long time, a colleague of mine, Todd Roe, was up there and took an infamous photo of one of the doors that did show two bullet holes in it. But the next time he went back there, the door was missing. So no analysis could be done to find out when those bullets were shot in there and what type of weapon it was used. So we don't know, maybe they were shot in there years later, but the legend is that he was so terrified of the place and of the spirit that he blasted at it with his firearm and the family soon moved out and left the place not long after that encounter. What was causing it to him to have such fear and terror of it? Is it just the fact that it was a ghost, which would be a logical explanation in itself, but was there more to it? Was there torment going on? Was the spirit doing anything to him or his family?

9:37Well, legend is that the family was slowly being psychologically changed. That almost as though the home had a sinister effect on people, that it would cause depression and anger outbursts and unexplained bolts of anger and hostility. And I think they may have been picking up on some of that as time wore on because eventually they removed themselves from the home. Although they didn't sell it right away, they left it there for over a decade. They simply did not ever return to it. Now if you spend $2.5 million on a vacation home and you're not using it, you're going to think you would sell it to get rid of it rather than just let it go down the drain year after year. But that's exactly what happened. And a lot of researchers have to question why? Because at the same time there's this feeling that you shouldn't be there.

10:38Like you're not wanted and there's some type of uneasiness or evil there. On the flip side, people have this uncanny sense of being drawn to the area and a summer win. They can't explain it. They don't know why, but something draws them. Something urges them to go there. Like they're meant to be there. So on flip side, you have this house that at one point is screwing everyone out of it. And on the other point, it's attracting people. It's very odd. When it was abandoned after they had left and sat there for that decade, did anyone visit it? Did anyone maintain it? What was its reputation then? Obviously it's state of just sitting there, but tell me the story of that 10 years ban. It soon got a reputation as being in abandoned haunted place. And I don't know if they had a caretaker there just for minimal maintenance or if it was

11:39completely abandoned. There are tales of neighborhood children exploring the area as kids and the house and their parents always told them that it was off limits. And again, it could be because they heard the haunted stories or they just didn't want them walking around in an old, decrepit building. It was unsafe. But there were stories brewing at that time of young kids exploring the abandoned alleged haunted house much like kids do today. Did they leave it with their possessions or was the house still sitting there with a lot of their things in it? Apparently there was a lot of fine art, a lot of very expensive furniture and other possessions that were simply left there. There were kids that were called touring the place and just being amazed at how expensive stuff looked inside. And during this time, there were several offers on the land, but they simply wouldn't sell

12:42it. They held it till Mr. Lamont actually died in 1948 and then it was finally sold to another family. But until then, it was just simply left on its own. Did they ever say anything about why they just abandoned it up to the point where when he passed in 1948, did any of the family ever speak about what the thought process was of why it sat there for so long? Not that I know of. If they did, I've never been able to find that and keep in mind, this was at a time, especially if you're a wealthy, upper class family. You did not want to go around saying you abandoned your home because it was haunted. I mean, that would do damage to your reputation back then. Even though people had an open mind back then, the spiritualist movement was still fresh and everybody's memories, but it still would not serve them well to say that they got scared

13:43out of their vacation home. So I don't know what they did if they told the family tale. Maybe it was passed from one generation to the next as a family secret, but it certainly wasn't made public, which was common for that time for families to keep their secrets. Secret. What occurred then when it finally was sold because he had passed in 1948, tell me about the new family who bought the property and what did they do with it? Yeah, the keeper family bought the property and they had grand plans like everybody who buys the property does. They wanted to open it as a resort, a B&B, a place you could come and enjoy the beauty. They were enticed by the beauty of this area. But apparently right after moving in, the father, Mr. Kiefer, died in some say he had a heart attack right in the house, some say he was scared to death, others tell stories, he wasn't quite at the house, but he died shortly after moving into the mansion and that really put

14:46a stoppage on all of the main plans. It was really again, just kind of went empty and barely maintained over the years. And he was ready to move in or when he did move in. What kind of a state was a property in? Was it in a state of being able to to inhabit or did he have some work done to get it up to to a livable code essentially? Yeah, it wasn't in the best shape at all. And legend again tells of the family trying to bring in contractors and workers to come and do maintenance on the building, but according to legend, every time they contacted someone and told them which house it was going to be, they simply were met with excuses and post polements of nobody wanted to work on the area. It apparently had such a huge reputation of the time that construction workers simply avoided it even though it was a paying job. Were they avoiding it just on the generic story of it's a haunted location or did anyone

15:51have any accounts in the contractor world that you're aware of things happening that really scared them from not going there? I think it was in the early days, the maids and the servants and the maintenance and the crews all had reports and whether that moved through the trades, I don't know, but I think it was just generally in that area of people feared the house and they'd rather not go in it. Very superstitious. You might not want to go in after hearing all the tales that not only could the house cause your death, but it also almost like drained your life force that it could be deadly, but it would alter your personality as though you're stepping into some alternate reality of sorts. And I think not knowing specifically the title that they called it then, they really did have that fear of not wanting to go in because they thought it could do bodily and psychological harm.

16:51After Mr. Kiefer had passed away, what was the story with the property for the rest of the time the family held it? It was that it was haunted. Things were going on. Rooms were changing size and shape from one day to the other. Some say it even doubled in size of these rooms. They really got a sense that you could paint the walls that often stains would come through and that people would see operations and mysterious noises. All your traditional hallmarks of a haunting were said to be happening there. And I'm not sure how long the wife and the children stayed in the place before they too abandoned it, but it wasn't until 1969 that the home was sold once again. What happened with that sale? Who decided to take up this property at that point? Yeah, a couple. Now this is interesting. It was Arnold and Ginger and they had four children and again, they had dreams, big dreams. Apparently, she fell in love with it, the wife where the husband really was tentative

17:56about the whole thing. Wasn't sure he wanted to invest that chunk of money into their home, but they wanted to renovate it again. And apparently he was a contractor and they too had troubles. Nobody wanted to work on the mansion. So they were forced to do it all on their own as a family. This is where things really heated up and it's because we're getting into the era where things were recorded more and we have that information. But apparently they would try to paint the colors of the house after Ginger found the original blueprint for the mansion. She found it in one of the walls according to legend and really became obsessed with painting things the original color. But it was said that no matter how many coats of paint she could put on the wall, it would not change back to its original coloring. And I love that with the blueprint, which is, the blueprint's hour out there.

18:56I mean, they were found and legend is they found a piece pipe, a Native American piece pipe wrapped along with the blueprints, giving some credence to the story of the Native tribes having quarrels over this land as well. Or maybe if they did bargain it away, the piece pipe was included. What else occurred as they became more invested into the land and to the summer wind, the property itself, beyond painting? Yeah, windows started to open and close on their own. And to the point where some of the windows were sent to have been nailed down, yet when the father would come in, the windows would be open again. And this is where the psychological damage was being done. It was said that the father started to slowly disintegrate into some psychotic breakdown that he would snap at the children in ways he had never done before. And he would blame them for opening the windows and closing them.

20:00And apparently he became obsessed with playing an organ in the home at all times. And he would make up or change or morph some songs he knew into these sinister and really dark lyrics that the family became afraid of him at all time. And that's when they were alleged to have found a human skeleton in the house as well. Like in the walls or where did they find the skeleton allegedly? Yeah, the story goes they were taking apart an old drawer, a chest of drawers and they found a fake wall or a fake door behind a little area. And the daughter, one of the daughters climbed back in there and said she found a skull with air on it still. But the other thing is the family, the Hinshaw's never reported that to the police. And whether they didn't want to deal with the drama that would ensue or they simply had other motivations, they just left it there according to legend.

21:02And this is where things took a downward turn for Arnold that as he was snapping more and more with his children and his wife, they started to fear him. And that's when he actually was put into a mental institution because he had lost his mind at summer wind. Did the family then continue to reside at the property? Ginger, the wife who had originally loved it and was really the force behind buying the place. She took her family away and they ended up divorcing her and her husband and she remarried and never returned to summer wind. But the interesting part is is that the new owner was her father. He purchased the area and he was drawn to it as well saying there was something about the summer wind mansion that really intrigued him. And he lived in the mansion at this time. It was a terrible disrepair where him and one of his sons actually lived in a trailer

22:05out in the driveway while they were doing maintenance to fix the place up to run it as a B&B or a small resort once again. The children that they had that were also resigning there at the property before the father had essentially lost his mind for lack of a better term. Obviously, we're talking here the 60s and the 70s where some of this is going on. Have they ever spoken about their life there and what they experienced or are these accounts more so legend or they from the family themselves? As far as I know, they never spoke about it and a lot of this is speculation and conjecture. We don't know what really happened and unfortunately a lot of people at that time weren't folk loris than the like weren't taking down a lot of these stories. So a lot of it has been what's dug up and according to legend type stuff for a friend of a friend type story.

23:06So how much credence you can put in it, I don't know, but it's interesting that these stories at least date back many, many generations that they were around, but how prevalent I don't know. Yeah, it's interesting. When Ginger's father then purchased the property, what went on with it with his overseeing of it? Yeah, Raymond had big dreams that this place could be a magnificent resort and make a ton of money and he soon discovered that it wasn't the highlight of his life. He too began working on it with his son and they noticed weird things that they would look at the blueprint and they would measure a room for construction and it would be different size than the blueprints and then the next day they would measure it again. It would be a different size and I'm not talking a quarter inch off or an inch according to Raymond that sometimes the rooms appeared to be almost double in size they were the

24:08day before and that's when they started hearing and seeing apparitions in the house as well. And I think it spooked the father and son to the point that the father actually wrote a book about the story because he started having weird dreams, automatic writing he would partake in and Ouija boards and other sands where he would claim that he was communicating with Jonathan Carver who was upset that the place was taken from him or he couldn't find his deed. He had some problem with the house and it really began to focus when Raymond moved in. Is this the point where things start to get even more dark as far as what's going on with the fact that he's involving Ouija boards and trying to actively communicate with the other side it's not just suddenly there or unexplained activity happening. If there was something lurking underneath this house the entire time this really brought

25:14it to the forefront if there was a paranormal portal or something that focused the energy on this place it was like lighting a match to it at this point the activity started to roll and roll and roll and I don't know if Raymond was just more open to it or he was attracting it or he was the one that was brave enough to document it but that's really the height of the summer wind legend was in the 1970s when he was trying to fix the place up. When he's trying to fix it up then he decided to write a book about it at that point in time the paranormal world not anywhere near the way it is today. Is there anyone that went in to investigate other than just his accounts? Not that I know of and that's the fascinating point is that even though it was the 1970s and it's a hundredth of the attention that it would have received today where you could charge people hundreds of dollars to spend the night there I don't know if anyone actually

26:16went in and did an official investigation and that's there were people doing it back then certainly not the hordes of people that are doing it today but it wouldn't have been that strange of a request to go in but as far as I know nobody went in and if they did they never reported on it which seems unlikely as well. How did his construction project go as he continued to work on the summer wind? About as well as everyone else's and the two things that people would discover as soon as they bought the place was that it's going to take a heck of a lot more money than I thought to repair this place and get it up and running and to something dark and sinister appears to be here not wanting it to be back to its original glory so his construction didn't go very well following in the footsteps of those previous people. What point did it end and how did it end for him in terms of being the caretaker or

27:19the current attempted renovator of the summer wind? He just left the place like everyone else did just gave up through their hands up and left and I know people that told me stories of living up in that area in the 1980s early 80s before it was almost totally destroyed and they remember having Halloween parties there that the neighbors would go to that area and have little Halloween gatherings out on the front area of the mansion at the time because it was in such disrepair it was the perfect haunted haunted house. Sure. So yeah I don't know if he gave up for financial reasons or if he gave up for supernatural reasons but regardless of the cause of it he like everyone else just packed it up. What happened to the summer wind after that? Well it sat there and it sat there and it sat there and it became a tourist draw you

28:20really even in the 1980s people knew about it and they wanted to go out and venture to see what remained and then in the summer of 1988 the place burned down and there was a huge storm going on at the time lots of lightning that's the official explanation is that it was most likely struck by a bolt of lightning and as you can imagine 100 year old wood that's untreated dry as can be wouldn't take much to start going up in flames but some tell of a more devious story that the town's folk either upset by the tourism or more importantly upset by the evilness associated with the mansion took a match to it and burned it down but the official story is that lightning took down most of summer wind in 1988 with there only being a few of the foundation and the chimney still there to view.

29:22And at that point it what happens with it it's gone but the foundation is still there is anyone decide to try and go back in or what's what's its story after that. Yes it's gone but certainly not forgotten in fact it almost takes on a creepier aspect because there's only pieces of the foundation where you can go and see the basement and some of the chimney remains and it does give it an eerie feel that there even though the house is gone people feel a presence there that the house is still there even though physically it's not there and over the years and even up to today it will change hands every few years there's been a few different projects to get the place rebuilt to its original design but much like the people that lived there long ago everyone who takes or partakes in that adventure simply finds that it takes a lot more money than they were anticipating so as of today there's

30:25still a lot of kick starters that go on and funding trying to get the summer wind purchased and rebuilt to its original glory but it's all short every time. That concludes part one of our interview about the summer wind mansion in part two exclusively for grave keepers at patreon.com slash the grave talks will continue talking with Chad about the summer wind. We'll discuss the paranormal investigations that have gone on there. What investigators have found heard and experienced on the grounds of the summer wind mansion and its possible future the possibility of it being re-erected to its former glory. How realistic of a possibility is that. Until next time for the grave talks I'm Tony Bruceke. Thanks for listening.