Although after the civil war slavery was abolished many of them had no place to go and jobs were scarce. So many slaves or servants rather would go live at large residences to help farm, keep up the grounds and serve the owners. In this case this mansion was just that a plantation where servants lived on the property and helped maintain the mansion. There were maids, groundskeepers, caretakers, servants etc etc but this was a happy place.

The servant's quarters to this day till remain on the grounds which is a two room small stone building now abandoned. You could tell that the servants did not receive much attention. There was also many other nice features like giant oak trees, a pool house, a swimming pool, and a large amount of land which had to be maintained at the time. 

Many years ago a lady died in one of the rooms I am sure its not the only death within the mansions walls but Tanya told me about as a child she would see her door quietly open by itself. I believe she also mentioned seeing a ghost as a child within the house itself. She has gotten quite use to it but I could feel a presence in the room where the lady died and a light bulb practically exploded in front of us. 

But what I wanted to do was make her aware that there is more going on then she sees or recognizes unlike me who sees these type of phenomena and occurrences on a regular basis. So I am able to pick up on all the little things that go on. Sometimes when you live somewhere you tend to get some comfortable you do not pay any attention the bumps that occur in the night.

I was very lucky to have had a chance to explore this mansion I do have to admit that I got lost a few times. But let me tell you about it a little more in detail as this place is a Ghostbusters dream. The mansion has a secret passage which leads to a wine cellar, there is a full basement rare in the state of Florida, two stairwells, at least five bathrooms, a claw tub big enough to hold two people, five fire places, two studies, a den, a dining room with chandeliers, carport, garage, at least 7 giant rooms, and much much more. When you approach the mansion its giant arched windows really give it that eerie feeling. The hardwood flooring is made with almost an extinct wood which can only be found in a Louisiana bog. The house very much looks the same as it did over a century ago. So you can only imagine how lucky I was to be able to have an opportunity to do a investigation and stay the entire night monitoring paranormal activity.

There is alot more history on the home but if I were to disclose it then it would be disrespectful to the owners. But I will that the house has a long history of events some strange some not so strange. There was a barn nearby with animals and such that was restored into a house. That piece of history also stands and now has residents living in what use to be the barn behind the mansion.

As far as ghost go we have to ask ourselves is it haunted? I think more or less Tanya was more curious to know how haunted this place was since she grew up here. I wanted to do a very thorough investigation not one that is 15 minutes or just a few photos but actually one that I could sit down take dozens of photos, walk around the grounds at night, spend sometime in the basement and house just listening. I was beyond amazement at the amount of ghost activity within the house and outside of it.  Perhaps because where the mansion once sat another plantation overpowered the rest called the Richard Oswald Plantation so at one time slaves and even Seminole Battles took place so lots of energy to the land itself.

But more so what I believe is that this is such a grand place that the previous owners, servants, and others who resided here in the past still haunt its grounds. There is a real strong feeling of being watched from the outside from within the house threw the windows. But when you start to perhaps go further back behind the house towards the servants house there is some real strong activity and movement. There are really no houses nearby its not even a busy road so at night every branch breaking or walking is very easy to tune in on.

But even the mansion some of the darker rooms are real uncomfortable to be in. There are light bulbs blowing, strange bangs within the house, cold spots, a feeling of being watched down one of the basements corridors, and even a visible ball of light in the giant den. There is a deck on the back of the house its very long almost the full of length of the mansion and there seems to be another presence that enjoys sitting down in the chairs on the deck. So from my conclusion it seems like a place where the spirits perhaps are not tormented but rather enjoying themselves like we do everyday in our lives.

Much mystery though will always remain here as with always a past there is going to be some reflection of it into the present. I mean could these ghost be previous residences as to when it was a plantation? Seminole Indians from the wars? Or maybe the unseen are drawn here because this is a true southern mansion not a block home but an actual 1800s mansion restored to its original look so you decide!

© By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight