Most Haunted Places in America: Ivy House Inn Bed and Breakfast
The haunting of the Ivy House Inn Bed and Breakfast in Casper, Wyoming is one of those old cases where a couple loved their home so much that they decided to stay, even after their deaths. This time, even their pet Siamese cats seem to have stayed behind.
They also seem to have stayed behind out of love rather than out of sadness. There do not seem to be any particularly tragic or horrific events that have taken place on the property – just a family who chose to stay behind in their home after their human bodies stopped functioning.
The three story house was built in 1916 on the apron of the Rocky Mountains by the White family. It was sold to it’s current owners, Tom and Kathy Johnson after Mrs. White’s death in 1995. Though it seems that after the property passed to new owners, the spirit of Mrs. White preferred to stay.
Local anecdotes paint Mrs. White as a very controlling person, who made sure that nothing untoward was going on in her house. She hasn’t changed much in the years since her passing. Things started when the Johnsons decided to renovate their new property. Mr. Johnson was using a power drill to do some carpentry work when his tool cut off on its own. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that it had come unplugged, and the cord was hovering above the ground, where it then fell. Not long after, he witnessed his hammer float into the air and move into another room, held by unseen hands. Before he began his renovations, Tom Johnson didn’t believe in ghosts. Now he is an experienced paranormal investigator.
One of the interesting about the ghost of Mrs. White is that she does not like guests smoking or drinking in their rooms. When someone tries to partake in these activities, they often hear a very loud rapping on their door. If they get up and open it, there is no one within the vicinity. If they are slow in moving to get the door, the doorknob will rattle as if someone is trying to get in, but, of course, there is never anyone there.
Mrs. White is said to appear on a regular bases throughout the house, often accompanied by certain signature smells. The phantom scents of menthol salves, baking chocolate, and dish soap have each coincided with her manifestations, at one point or another. Her face has even been seen in windows and mirrors, and she has been spotted walking down the halls and through the walls of the inn.
There also seems to be a male apparition – maybe the ghost of Mr. White – that appears with a bit less frequency. He usually is seen in the back parking lot, where car alarms and other small-scale automotive electronics are known to malfunction regularly. Other guests have reported finding the ghost of a man standing beside their beds, saying “Isn’t it funny how people get lost?” before fading into nothingness. In what might be a related occurrence, unacquainted visitors who have stayed in one particular downstairs room each claim to have had the same dream of a man walking back and forth between a sink and a closet.
Perhaps the most famous ghosts that haunt the Ivy House Inn are those of the Whites’ two Siamese cats. They are often seen roaming the grounds together, playing amongst themselves. Guests have reported that in the middle of the night they have felt a cat nuzzle against them in the bed, purring contentedly. When the lights are turned on, there is nothing there. The cats are never a real nuisance to anyone, and the employees and guests who experience them remember them fondly and love recounting their stories.
Now that his experiences in his inn have made Mr. Johnson a believer in the paranormal, the Ivy House Inn Bed and Breakfast truly embraces its status as a haunted place. They host several of what they term “Haunted Slumber Parties”, complete with a “Breakfast with the Spirits”, which is a champagne breakfast served with “ghost toasties”. The owners are very friendly with the paranormal enthusiasts who stay there, and the inn is a regular stop for ghost hunting groups eager to prove themselves.
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