Due to a series of issues, the blog will be updating tomorrow as well, while I work through some last minute difficulties with my files, however, to avoid missing my usual post date, here is the BONUS episode and transcript of the Halloween Special! Join me by the campfire as well tell scary stories from beyond.
Check your flashlight, and hold your pillows close-It’s time for Architecture, Coffee, & Ink!
30 second Intro song
10 seconds silence,
Campfire Crackling
Hello, this is Hollywood C. and you’re listening to Architecture, Coffee, & Ink. A podcast dedicated to introducing concepts, detailing out designs, and tackling the architecture you might not realize the meaning behind. I’m your hostess and I am here today to start introducing you to the designs that make you wonder why.
tag line: So I ask you to brew your coffee, grab your sketch book and pen, and let’s begin.
Welcome to my Halloween Special Episode. Where things are going to be a little different today. Quick trigger warning, this is scary stories, so people’s death and the paranormal will be discussed. If this bothers you or triggers you any way, please see my normal episodes where it’s just architecture. While I won’t go into graphic details at any point, I want to make sure that everyone is comfortable and has an enjoyably time.
My family has a long history of oral traditions on both sides, so I am going to lean on my ancestors a little today, when the veil between worlds is the thinnest to bring you stories of a few buildings and projects. Now, this wouldn’t be an architecture podcast, without discussing the designs as well, so I ask you to pull up a seat, grab a log, and let your mind wander, through the long corridors and the creeping shadows as we discuss tales of horror.
Now what do you do if you are stuck in a Murder Hotel with a serial killer?
Herman Webster Mudgett was born on May 16, 2861, to an extremely notable family of immigrants from England. A middle child, he achieved notable success early on, marrying at 16, and going in and out of a string of universities until his wife, tired of his violent tendencies left him. Afterwards, he started to move around, and was quickly accused of being seen with a missing child, the first in a string of city hopping and missing people and mysterious deaths. With each town and each mystery, he left quicker and quicker, and until he finally found his way to Chicago underneath a new name you are all much more familiar with: Dr. H. H. Holmes. Just recently a new documentary was released that I have not seen, detailing the life of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes. But for us, our story begins in August 1886, when Holmes reaches Chicago, Illinois and purchases a cold empty lot, and begins to construct his ‘Castle’.
Construction began in 1887, for a two story building, designed by Aetna Iron and Steel. He short changed the architects, and through a series of complicated events he eventually began constructing a third floor, with the intention of creating a hotel for the World Fair. Now many of us architects know that the World Fair happened in Chicago in 1893 from May through October, and represented the happiness and success. Surrounding a glistening pool, the smell of the food, and delighted screams of the children running about, would only faintly surround those who walked along the banks the pool, with the smell of the water enhancing the white stucco and ornate buildings, representing a future that gleamed in a hopeful welcoming hue. The Awe everyone must have felt as the statue centered at the end of the pool was only eclipsed by the looming Ferris Wheel.
And not too far away, at a pleasantly compact building, with beautiful sides of windows, and awning’s stretching to welcome you in to shopping and a drugstore, where you could be snacks to tide you over as experienced the fair. It’s there that you can sit and experience the Chicago sun. But don’t be fooled by this charming façade, the whispers are all around you as you site. What lurks beneath is more horrifying than anyone walking by could have ever imagined.
Filled with 100 rooms, you travel the expense of the building. With the first floor being shops and retails, surely it would be safe to move up, and follow the staircase. But when you reached the end, often there was nothing-perhaps just an empty room, which would puzzle you, wasn’t there supposed to be window? What happened to the bays? Now nothing more than walls surround you right now. But that’s fine, you will just turn around right? But, it takes you a moment, disoriented, you waited too long, and the floor would slide out beneath you. And often the last thing you would see would be that expanse of walls just going on and on and on.
The entire complex was rumored to be littered with gas chambers, bogus stairways and trapped doors, a lot like the Winchester House. Looking at a few plans of the building, it is labeled with things like waiting rooms, and rooms that often only have one entrance. False walls and odd shapes would have confused anyone who entered, and the narrow hallways would have allowed Holmes complete control. Places were marked for acid, and most chilling for me, was that one of those waiting rooms and receptions would have windows to the outside. How many people walked along, unknowing of those banging on the glass above?
Altogether, it is unknown how many people lost their lives to Holmes. Before his execution, he often claimed ‘walking victims’, people he said he killed but where still roaming the earth. So an exact number of deaths is unknown, however, all together the estimate is anywhere from 9-200+ people. The truth is, he was also a scammer, and con-artist. Often faking deaths and making false claims. And once he was driven out of Chicago, he attempted to make another hotel. One never completed, and also having a mysterious issue with the architects, so that he had to finish the building himself. I bring this up, not to glorify the killer, but to remember those who lives were lost, who’s story may never be told. I met someone in college, who shared that according to family lore, one of her family was a potential victim. However, they were unable to ever confirm it, or anything about it, other than she was lost at the World’s Fair Park, separated from her family and seeking shelter, wouldn’t a pharmacy feel safe?
So, I offer this word of warning, don’t be too dazzled by the lights and awe, because dark always follows closely behind where the light cannot reach.
A clash between Greek-Revival and Federal-Style, this building’s cheerful promenade hides the history of Carnton, a house in Franklin, Tennessee. It was built by slaves, and lies adjacent to the McGavock Confederate Cemetery. Carnton was built in 1826. And was the home of Randal McGavock, and hosted a series of notable visitors over the years. The original building was crafted in the Federal Style, with the Greek Revival porch a later addition. Altogether, the house has 11 rooms, with square Ionic Columns. The house over the years had fallen into disrepair before it was restored by the Carnton Association, who did their best to restore the house to the way it would have been in itself prime. Down to trying to find or replicate the wallpaper that would have been used by during the renovations done by John McGavock, the son of the former Nashville Mayor who built the property.
However, it is not the wealthy elite of Nashville that our story centers around. Instead, it is the bloody history of the Battle of Franklin, where our story begins. Considered to be one of the worst battles of the Civil War, purely because of the amount of people killed per hour. It was an extremely short time, lasting roughly 5 hours. Altogether, of the 63,000 troops, there was roughly 8,578 casualties-though the Carnton website lists almost an extra 1,000, Wikipedia and a few other sources dispute this further, stating lower number. The Carnton, itself, became a makeshift hospital. With the bodies running over and spilling into the yard, as the house itself failed to contain all those who needed help. A quote, directly from the Carton Website, run by the Battle of Franklin Trust, says that
“the wounded, in hundreds, were brought to [the house] during the battle, and all the night after. And when the noble old house could hold no more, the yard was appropriated until the wounded and dead filled that….”
The part that I remember the most from being in the house, was the feeling of the uneasy, not on the property itself, but when you reach a room, and the discolored floors finally come into focus. And it hits you all at once, what you are looking at is the stains of the blood, forever tainting the floorboards. Then stepping outside to the porch offers no relief, as uneasy will follow you. The swimming walls, pressing in, crying with its loss. You can feel the walls crawling, and the feeling of something, reaching, reaching up into the souls of your feet. I am not alone in this, a family friend also went here, and talked about how they were on a tour of the property, they were speaking to a guide, and an orb floated across the room, visible to their naked eye. They described how their chest tightened, as both they and the tour guide fell silent. As they rushed from the room, to the next part of their tour, towards the porch, they saw a man standing next to woman on the porch. They were confused and turned to the guide to ask if any recreations were taking place, but upon seeing the guide, realized that the guides face had drained of all color. And our friend turned back to the porch just in time to see them both disappear.
I guess the tour was so good, you could just die.
Now finally, what do you do, when you need a Ouija board to consult your interior designer? Or a haunting design.
Now this last story is more of paranormal funny. Again, this story comes to me from my family. Now a member of my family had purchased a house with a previous husband. When purchasing the home, she noticed that there were quite a few things she would like to change, including a very distinctive blue dining room. Now, when they were first moving in, as many do, you have to plan how you will tackle designing your house. Break down the renovations over time. So at first, they put up all their decorations, including a very modern painting, a woman in red lipstick. Now, what exactly this means, I don’t know, as the story unfolds, you will understand why. Unfortunately, the woman in red seemed to quickly be a problem. She noticed something wrong, when she first heard the footsteps down the hall. And the ring of the unplugged rotary phone. To the point, that the phone had to eventually be thrown into a closet to at least dull the rings. Then the painting. Oh that red lipstick painting. It started off small, she said. Just slowly being found face down. Then it escalated, being found face down on the table, which wouldn’t have been a problem, things fall, right? If it weren’t for the fact it had to be lifted up over a plant to be taken off the wall. But all that was fine, until She painted over that blue dining room. Picture this just a moment, where a living room is adjacent to the dining room, and a hallway and guest room remain off to the side, while above is the rest of the bedrooms. But center of all that is that blue dining room. Well after my family painted the dining room things escalated. She started to notice, more footsteps, slamming doors when she was home alone, and worse of all, large items near her started to shake and rattle. One evening she was sitting reading on a couch, and her ex-husband walked into the room to shout, as the coat rack behind her started to shake, rattle, and wobble about. And only the coat rack. It all cultivated up to the point, where she finally painted the dining room back blue and yelled to the unknown entity that she could have the blue dining room, but it was her house and she, my family member, wasn’t going anywhere. And all she heard in response, was the sound of footsteps walking away, and a door slamming shut.
After that, the home went quiet, as long as she didn’t try to move furniture, or redecorate beyond what it was at the time of the argument. Any other attempts would result in the furniture moving or the chair being flipped over. Until finally, she received a call from the previous owners. Apparently, that old rotary dial phone, forgotten in the closet, was still incurring charges. So they asked to come get it. Of course, she agreed, and when the previous owners arrived, she couldn’t help but ask, “Is this place haunted?” At which time the old owner confirmed, it was, by his mother, and immediately asked her- “You painted the dining room, didn’t you?” Apparently, it was his mother’s a self-claimed design enthusiast favorite room in the house, and she had to approved all changes.
Now, since this story has happened, the house was sold, and has been sold multiple times. Each time, they have been required to disclaimer that the house is haunted, and include the clause, that the blue dining room has to remain behind. Now, my only question is,
How does a rotary dial phone unplugged from the wall, still make calls?
Thank you once again for tuning in, I hope you enjoyed this special episode. A quick call to action: Please rate and review, share with your friends, neighbors, and family, your professor-whomever you think needs some architecture in their life. We again have a Facebook page and private group, both of which are under the same name: Architecture, Coffee, & Ink. The answer to the question-who is the host-is Hollywood, like the city. And second question is just your opinion, and I might just use it as a recommendation for a show with a little shout out. If you want to either be featured, or have a case study suggestion or perhaps just want to share a story of your favorite design or experience, you can either find me at Architecture, Coffee, & Ink the website is: https://architectureink.design.blog/ .
My twitter is @hollywoodconrad and insta is hollywood.conrad Everything will be linked in the show notes, including my incredibly long URL. You can also email me at architecturecoffeeandink@gmail.com all spelt out without the ampersands or commas. The theme song, is by me in Garageband. The other music is also from me in Garageband, and everything is credited along with the sources on the blog.
Just remember, today is a double feature! So make sure you check out Episode 5: All Roads lead to the Roamer Bus that I am actually releasing at the same time.
But either way, Happy Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls’ Day, Guy Fawkes Night, Mischief Night, Samhain, or El Dia de los Muertos whichever you celebrate. And as always:
May your coffee mugs be full, and your ink wells never run dry, grab your candy corn and candy apples, Happy Halloween.
60 secs end song re-looped.
Sources for Halloween Episode
“Battle of Franklin (1864).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, September 4, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Franklin_(1864).
“Carnton Plantation, House and Garden – the Landscapes of the Battlefield of Franklin, Tennessee, Carnton Plantation, 1345 Carnton Lane, Franklin, Williamson County, TN.” The Library of Congress. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.tn0445.sheet/?sp=2.
“Carnton.” The Battle of Franklin Trust. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://boft.org/carnton-history.
“Carnton.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, September 14, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnton.
Carter, Allison. “H.H. Holmes’ Horrors Come to Life in New Haunted House.” The Indianapolis Star. IndyStar, October 22, 2016. https://www.indystar.com/story/life/2016/10/20/hh-holmes-horrors-come-life-new-haunted-house/92419802/.
Google search. Google. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://www.google.com/search?q=Murder%2Bhotel&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS910US910&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj14rLbhPXzAhVaQzABHQzcBLoQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25#imgrc=sO0uYwCKLBuzHM.
Google search. Google. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://www.google.com/search?q=world%2Bfair%2Bchicago&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS910US910&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGgffQk_XzAhXXRzABHXvdA58Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25#imgrc=5pcqBG8hmBQ6pM.
“H. H. Holmes.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes.
Posted by blogger in Nashville Ghosts. “Haunted Carnton Plantation – Nashville Ghosts.” Nashville Ghosts – Welcome to Nashville Ghosts Haunted Ghost Tours!, March 30, 2021. https://nashvilleghosts.com/haunted-carnton-plantation/.
