Monday, May 23, 2011

Solitude Farm, Cashmere

Solitude Farm is located in Monroe County, and was built in the 1840s by William Peck.  It is rumored that William Peck had sent one of his slaves to England to study architecture and brick-laying, and thus he built L-shaped, two story home.  Additions were made in the 1880s, and again after the turn of the century.

The house has only seen five owners in its existence...the Lowe family of Lowe's Hardware, Sean Mann and his family (1967-1998), a cattle rancher who never lived in the home, and then in 1999, Bill Gadd.

Voices, doors slamming, and footsteps are commonplace in this home, but there are several apparitions experienced as well.  The first is a Confederate soldier, often seen on the staircase.  He is in full regalia, and will often bow to women who spot him.

The second ghost is that of a crying infant.  Legend states that Mrs. Peck became pregnant, and when she gave birth, it was obvious the child was racially mixed.  Mr. Peck is said to have hunted down the suspected father and hanged him from an oak tree on the property.  The infant was allowed to live in the home, but before its first birthday, it was either pushed or fell down the stairs to its death.

The suspected father of the child is also said to haunt the home, especially the area around the stairs.  Witnesses have reported seeing a black man standing on the staircase or the landing with a red brick in his hand.  This man is rumored to have been both the slave who was sent to England, AND the father of the child.

An upstairs bedroom called the "Pink Bedroom" is home to another ghost, experienced by Sean Mann among others.  As Sean was in the bed, he saw the apparition of a young teenage girl wearing a white summer dress edged in lace.  She asked him what he was doing in her bed.  Legend states that a relative of the Peck family was staying in the home, when she fell in love with a black man.  They had made plans to meet at a church picnic, but the girl's father found out.  He attempted to shoot the man, but missed and killed his daughter instead.

Troy Taylor Article

8 comments:

  1. This place has fascinated and annoyed me. I've searched for more information on it and have come up with nothing. Would you have any ideas on where to look. Apparently, the farm is not listed on the National Register for Monroe County.

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  2. Honestly, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Topix has been a wealth of information on this location. The locals can tell you more about the legends and the current state of the property than anywhere else on the net. Unfortunately, since I haven't been able to visit the area to do research, this and the Troy Taylor article are all I've got to work with!

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  3. I know exactly where it is...I live within 4 miles of the place.

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  4. I lived Right over the Hill from it growing up and was friends with the girl who grew up in it. My school bus went by it every day and it is a very scary place. It is real and Ive been in it. We always called it the Manns House Becouse that was the famliy that lived in it so long. I wish there was more about this house becouse I live in Colorado now and tell everyone about it but dont have nothing to show. I remember it even being on extra or one of them shows like that 1999 Halloween.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your experiences! I'm always in the process of trying to find new information for the locations listed in this blog, and this is one location where I, too, would like to find more information on! That might be a spring project for me!

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  5. We got to spend the night there when Bill Gadd still owned it. OMG scary its, beyond scary, I can't even say it was scary but it IS HAUNTED I AM 100% SURE ON THAT. cReepy things went on that night OMG

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  6. Just an FYI. the Lowe family that lived there was NOT from the Lowe's stores. WW Lowe was my 2nd great uncle. I wish i could say we were from the stores but not. He was from Tazewell County, Va.

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  7. I use to hear about the Mann house when I was a kid so when I got older me, my cousin, ex wife and a friend all went there. This place definately has something paranormal going on. The doors slammed, the car windows were fogged up and we hadn’t been in it in 20 or 30 minutes and as we were leaving (quickly) there was a dark shadow hanging in the tree in the front yard. We all saw and heard the same thing and we were not intoxicated

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