Please tell me where the Congdon Castle is in relation to Westhome. Having spoken with the Congdon’s great-grandchildren, they told me that Westhome was/is also known as the Congdon Castle.

My husband and I toured the mansion because we had free tickets. I knew the mother had been murdered…but nothing more than that. We were the only ones on our tour. When we started going up the stairwell, I started to feel a sense of vertigo (which is not a typical phenomenon for me) and even asked the tour guide if the staircase moves because it is suspended in the air. He said sure. By the time we got to Elizabeth’s bedroom, I started to feel very dizzy and faint. I had to squat down and try to regain composure (my husband thought my back hurt or something because I didn’t want to say anything and felt embarrassed). I had a hard time on the second floor and just didn’t feel well. By the time we went back down to the second floor, I felt better..as if nothing happened. I do not feel dizzy or faint often and thought maybe it was because the house was old and the floors shift or something. Anyways…when I shared this experience a couple months later with a friend she told me the nurse had been murdered on the stairwell, and that Elizabeth was murdered in her bed. Not sure what to make of it…but it is a little eeery. I have never experienced any paranormal phenomenon before….if that’s what it was.

“I started to feel a sense of vertigo (which is not a typical phenomenon for me) and even asked the tour guide if the staircase moves because it is suspended in the air. He said sure.”

I’m not sure what stairway you were on or what tour guide you had, but no stairs are suspended in the air. The one we use to go up to Elizabeth’s bedroom is a very solidly built stairway with a landing and isn’t just “suspended.” I am sensitive to motion having grown up with earthquakes, and I’ve never felt anything on that stairway.

vgs, a docent at Glensheen

Interesting new comments here! Hi again. “Nicole” two comments up: Weird you say that, because that is the exact spot I began to feel a presence when I was there. If u read my post I mentioned how I began getting anxious (it began on the stairway, and increased in Elisabeths bedroom – and of course peaking with my sighting in the elevator around the corner. The stairs weren’t moving…it mighta been something else! VGS: your right about “Westhome” and “Congdon Castle” being one-in-the-same. I did quite a bit of research to see if I could go tour there as well (since I LOVE GLENSHEEN and ITS GHOSTS ) Unfortunately you can not tour the other estate. One more thing I dont remember if I mentioned last time VGS, you do an excellent job of maintaing this site. Haunted or not – the place is amazing and deserves the respect and attention you give to it. You seem to be very passionate about it, and its very appreciated – so, hats off to you! ~ Brooklyn, in WI

Thank you, Nicole! I don’t maintain the site–I just post to it because I work (volunteer) there and know quite a bit. You can’t tour the other site in Washington because it’s still owned and used by the family, and not every descendent can use it–only certain ones. By the way, the place most people “feel” something is not Elisabeth’s room. It’s the upstairs guest bedroom (in the third floor). I have not idea why, nor have I experienced anything there.

haunted or not…the place is creepy…my 9 year old son and I went there last fall, and found the boathouse area particularly creepy…Lake Superior crashing on the rocks, the great mansion looming behind. The house seemed to hold many, many secrets, the murders being a consequence to dark secrets…at least that’s the feeling I got from the place. We did love it and will go back for sure. Like I said, I don”t know if its haunted, but there is an energy to the place that feels secretive and dark

Truthfully, as someone who has been in the house thousands of times, I don’t get the feeling that it has dark secrets. The murders were not secret, of course, but the family was really a great family. They were genuinely wonderful, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have met some of the descendants. I get a very good feeling when I’m in the mansion. By the way, I’ve been in it by myself and have had to go through the place, including upstairs, when no one was there. I honestly didn’t get the creeps, as some might say.

I agree that the boathouse is creepy. When we lived there I never really liked being around it or inside. The trees to the left and the decaying pier give it a abandoned feel. I’d love to see some pictures as it sits now. It was always interesting to see how the water would move the rocks around, sometimes the shore would extend out as far as the end of the pier, othertimes within feet of the door. Same goes for the creeks, sometimes you could walk across the mouths of them, othtimes it was a 15 foot gap!

Hi Brendan! How are you!? I haven’t looked at the boathouse in a while, but it didn’t seem all that creepy to me. Next time I’m there I think I will go check it out. By the way, I took some photos of Glensheen this fall and put them on Facebook.

I have a very scary story when i was there… I GOT PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS AND THE GHOST OF THE MAID HIT ME OVER THE HEAD WITH A CANDLE STICK!! i had internal bleeding of the brain and my brain swelled up to the size of a watermelon..

When was this? I’ll have to ask the people at Glensheen about it since I have never heard of it before. It must have happened before I was working there. Did it make the local news?

To confirm Elizabeth was not murdered in her room, she was murdered in Marjories’ room, the murder of the maid is accurate, but Elizabeth was murdered her sisters room on a hospital bed cause she suffered a stroke causing paralysis on one side. I have been there 3 times actually enjoy visiting, seen nothing, the house is old and probably drafty at times after all it is on the windy mighty lake superior Duluths air conditioner probably explaining the cold spots, but would not surprise me a bit of any paranormal activity.

When i was in 3rd grade we toured the mansion for girl scouts. and i remember we went upstairs and made old timey wierd dolls but then me and my friend had to go to the bathroom. so our leader took us to the bathroom. and when we came out of the bathroom we were walking to the staircase to go back up stairs and i was sure i saw a girl running up the stairs. but when we got there no one was there.

I know many people have different views as far as possible paranormal activity in the mansion. I have visited Glensheen twice and have felt a sadness/despair both times. You know how you walk into a room of a party, for example, and you feel the cheery energy? Same goes for places you haven’t been too as far as feeling good/bad/happy/sad. Like Glensheen (for some).

I had known of the murders but not specific things as far a who or why they occured when I first visited there. The first time was creepy as it was during the middle of a thunderstorm and the lights were flickering. Creepy feeling happened due to that. I did have a weird feeling of being watched, however, in the small bedrooms that you are taken to right after the master bedroom and a small bathroom. It wasn’t bad or sad feeling. I just felt like I was being watched as if why was I there…like why would people want to look at this house. I felt like it was a little girl for some reason. I had taken pictures that day too. Although it is not proof of anything, a face appeared in a window of the same room I had the creepy feeling in. I know it wasn’t a tour person either since we were the last of the day.

Also during the tour we were asked to look for a dragon in the woodwork of the main staircase landing that leads to the second floor. I couldn’t concentrate on finding the dragon while others around me could easily. Whether that’s just me or not who knows. I just know I had a hard time concentrating in that spot. The butlers pantry gave me the creeps as well as the kitchen. I had that feeling of being watched. As we made our way to the basement/ground floor (could have been the first floor too, it’s been 3 years since my last visit), there was a small skinny staircase that lead to upper floors (I’m guessing servant stairway). I was drawn to that specific staircase for some reason and don’t know why. I wanted to go and walk up but wasn’t allowed due to the tour. The tour I had gone on both times didn’t allow access to the third floor.

The tour guides did not talk of the murders when we were there; however a tour guide did answer a question my Mom asked when we were in the public bathroom in the basement/ground floor. The tour guide did answer but she seemed pretty hesitant. Which makes sense if they don’t want to answer those questions. The Congdons were very hard workers and a good family and respecting their past is important. I can see how they would not want to make Glensheen a “ghost hunting” tourist trap. It is a historic place and should be respected as such. Although, from what I’ve seen, it is a possible place for the Ghost Adventures crew to go to. The show on the Travel Channel. I do hope they get a chance to go just to prove to all of us (believer or not believers in the paranormal) what is really there. Although, again, that may just lead to people to want to go there for the “ghosts” but would also be great promotion for the estate.

I have never volunteered there and spent many hours at Glensheen but from the time I was there I think there is an energy of sadness. Just by my first step in the mansion I felt the sadness. If it ever is supposedly haunted then I don’t get a feeling of it being bad. It’s a good place to visit and beautifully maintained. Whether you believe in “Haunted houses” or not it’s a great tourist stop. So is Duluth.

If any past/present tourguides/guests have any insight on what I have felt about this place (same senses, etc)…let me know…it would be interesting!

I toured the mansion in a very small group and we went to the top floor. We put our heads in the laundry shoot door and looked down to the basement. That’s the door Patty Duke put her head in to listen to what was being said in the basement when the movie “You’ll Like My Mother” was filmed on the premises, mostly on the 3rd floor. John Boy was also in the movie. I believe the guides are probably not permitted to talk about the murders because they would get bogged down, and they do have to keep the tours moving along smoothly as they are very busy in the summer.

There’s another sightings that the nurse appeara in the windowstill. (how would i know?) Personal experience.

Later I learned that was where the nurse got killed…

I was very glad to find out about Glensheen Mansion. I would love to visit there and I am very glad I have not moved out of Minnesota yet. I am doing a project in school and I am compiling a list of supposed(and confirmed) allegations of haunted areas in Minnesota. I have become fascinated with Glensheen Mansion and am going to add this to my list along with a history. It does sadden me though by the murders though. I hope to one day visit before my family and I move so I can visit this historical mansion.

thats a hole bunch off bull i lived thier for 20 years thiers nothing wrong with that house lades im 15

I have been to the Mansion and felt nothing. I knew about the murders before going in but that wasn’t the reason we went there. If you think that something strange is going to happen and that’s the reason you went, don’t go. It is a beautiful house and it is well maintained. Go there for the beauty of the place and to learn about the people that have lived there. I didn’t see anything strange and I didn’t hear anything strange and I didn’t feel anything strange. The basement was colder than the rest of the house, it’s not a cold spot. It’s a basement, heat rises. Cold spots are when there is a great decrease in temperature in a random area. But before saying its a cold spot, look for open windows and remember people are constantly coming in and out of the house so there is breeze coming in and out all the time. Usually if a spirit is present you a little strange and I felt extremely comfortable there. Our tour did go up into the third floor.