Monday, May 23, 2011

Vandergrift (Vancroft) Mansion, Wellsburg

In 1901, plans were drawn up for a lavish vacation home for Joseph B. Vandergrift, a wealthy steel heir from Pittsburg.  The home, known as Vancroft, was designed by Alden and Harlow architects, and was built atop the William Miller and Saunders' farms.

The home was called the playground for the rich.  It offered swimming pools, hunting, horse racing, gambling, prostitution, alcohol, and all sorts of entertainment activities.  Each room has an international theme, decorated with pieces from all over the world.  After Vandergrift, the home  was  purchased by the Brinker family, who allowed a silent film to be shot on the property.  The Knights of St. George, followed by the William Penn Society both owned the home, before the present owners, the Catholic Knights, took over in 1991. At one point, they operated an assisted living nursing home on the property.

The house also has a ghost.  A young lady is rumored to have hung herself out in the stables after her husband discovered that she was having an affair.  She has been seen wandering about the property, doomed to forever roam the place where she took her own life.

Today, the house is known as Aspen Manor and serves as a Bed and Breakfast.  In November of 2009, the mansion made headlines when a paranormal investigation group located bones, believed to be human remains, behind a wall.  Unfortunately for the paranormal community (but much to the relief of many others, I imagine) the bones did not turn out to be of human origin.

13 comments:

  1. it didnt turn out to be human remains

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  2. I stayed in one of the rooms for a month. I never saw anything unusual or out of the ordinary, but when i would take a shower after work, my bathroom light would constantly go on and off. I left it on all the time and it would never go out unless i was in there. My wife and I currently rent our home from the owner of the mansion and are planning on seeing if we can do an investigation there.

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    1. Hello:) I was wondering how I may go about getting in touch with someone about investigating there myself ... would you happen to have any information that may be helpful? Thanks! Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/bloodhoundparanormalinvestigationsociety.

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    2. This mansion is now a bed and breakfast known as Aspen Manor. This link has some phone numbers and an email address, which is where I'd probably start:
      http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/wv-wellsburg-aspen-manor-resort.html

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  3. I stayed there for two nights, i didnt see or hear anything. Its a very neat place and i was free to go were ever i wanted. The staff was nice and didnt say anything to us. It was like 4 am and we were walking around. The opium room is neat, the items in eatch room are odd. If you get a chance you should check it out its worth visting at least once.

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    1. I'd love to stay there; definitely putting it on my list of things to do! Thanks for commenting!

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  4. I just stayed there for a night. It was very creepy. After having been given a tour I retired to my room. To say there were strange noises would be a stark understatement. I heard banging noises, footsteps and numerous other noises throughout the night. Needless to say I was glad when the sun finally came up. In the morning I met a lady who used to work there and told me she'd never set foot on the property again due to unexplained occurrences. The original part of the mansion is very interesting indeed. The nursing home portion was quite run down and really needs to be demolished.

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    1. Thank you for sharing your experiences; I definitely would love to spend the night here myself.

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  5. My grandfather lived there in the mid to late 1960s, when it was a retirement home. I was just a child, but recall it as being kind of creepy even then.

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  6. as a kid,i went to camp rolling hill in the summer of 1971.while there we had a tour of this mansion -we played the old games that were in a big barn on the property-i remember it was a very dark place,especially the billiard room.

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  7. I stayed and it was very very neat going back

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  8. My wife and I just stayed this past weekend there (8/9-8/11) the place is really beautiful. Every time we would go outside we would see the local wildlife. On Sunday (8/10/14) my wife went to visit my stepson so I took the opportunity to explore the manor and grounds,as I was in the upstairs library I seen a woman out of the corner of my eye, turned to look and no one was there. I walked over to where I seen her and the air was VERY cold. And the entire time we were there I never had an uneasy feeling. The only complaints I have is we couldn't stay longer and the place needs to be taken care of better ie.. Cobwebs' and dust was on everything in the "old" part of the manor other than that I will definitely be back. If u have any questions feel free to email me at webbwhite@outlook.com.

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  9. I remember as a kid in the 50's we would roam and play on the grounds because it was just a fun place for kids. It was also kinda creepy too with all the nuns roaming around in their long black habits and when we saw them we would run and hide till they went by.

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