The Hearthstone Inn – Colorado Springs
Unfortunaltely the Hearthstone Inn does not exist anymore. It's been converted into Apartments . You can read it here : Historic Colorado Springs property being remodeled into apartments [/box]The stately Hearthstone Inn is comprised of two Victorian mansions. The first was built in 1885 and was home to the Judson Moss Bemis family. The second was constructed in 1900 and became a tuberculosis boarding houseâserving as the final refuge for many patients who sought the cool, dry Colorado air to help relieve the symptoms of the often-fatal disease. Since 1978, the mansions have been home to the Hearthstone Innâa bed and breakfast that offers many relics of the pastâold, cast-iron radiators, hardwood floors, antiques, and even some ghosts.
David Oxenhandler and his wife bought the inn in 1999, but they werenât aware of its haunted nature until they started working there. âWhen somebody tells you an experience in the innâ whether itâs an employee or a guestâyour first reaction is, is there a problem with my inn or a problem with the person telling me this?â Oxenhandler said. But over time, he noticed people began to relay Colorado very similar experiences. Considering they didnât publicly talk about their ghosts, there had to be something more to the story.
The encounters picked up after lightning struck a tree outside of the building in the summer of 1999. The bolt knocked large sections of the tree into the street and was close enough to damage computer and phone equipment inside the Hearthstone. The following day, someone checked into the inn and was given a room on the third floor. Within minutes, the guest came down and asked if they could change rooms. âWe put them in a new room,â Oxenhandler said, âand the front desk person went back to the first room and saw that there was a mahogany mirror face-down on the floor. She just assumed it was smashed. She picked it up and it wasnât broken. So she hung it back on the wall. The next night, somebody else checked in to the same room. They again asked to be moved. This time they said the mirror floated off the wall and down to the floor.â
After the lightning strike, Oxenhandler phoned his insurance company to report a claim for some of the electrical equipment that had been damaged by the lightning.
But he also asked his insurance company about another problem. He said, âI said to them, âIf we had a problem with one of our rooms since the lightning strike and canât use it, would that qualify?â And they said, âSure. What, does it have a leak in the roof or something?â And I said, âNo, itâs haunted.â Needless to say, faxes went all over the world from the insurance company laughing about this thing. They sent down an electrical engineer to examine everything and absolutely nothing happened.â
The Hearthstone Inn has been investigated by paranormal investigators and psychics who feel the haunting stems from several former tuberculosis patients, the spirit of Alice Bemis Taylor, daughter of Judson Moss Bemis, and a man who may have hung himself on the third floor landing. During her life, Alice Bemis Taylor donated two other buildings in the Colorado Springs area: Colorado Collegeâs Bemis Hall, and the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. Both buildings also have reports of Alice Bemis Taylorâs ghost still wandering throughâon some occasions, sheâs been reported in both buildings and the Hearthstone Inn on the same night.
Written by â Jeff Belanger – Founder, Ghostvillage.com
FORMER ADDRESS :
THE HEARTHSTONE INN
506 NORTH CASCADE AVENUE
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO 80903
Taken from the: Encyclopedia of Haunted Places -Ghostly Locales from around the World – Compiled & Edited by Jeff Belanger – Copyright 2005 by Jeff Belanger