I will be spending the night in this house on Saturday! Am I scared? I am not. Things like this intrigue me, more than frighten me. I did learn some new information today which has us thinking, hmmm, we didn’t sign up for that!! Lol. Read on to the end to discover that new information!
I first met the owner of the Stroud House, David Bissette, five years ago at a local pub. We were on opposing trivia teams. From the start he knew about my love of old houses and the sometimes paranormal or unexplained things that go on in some of these homes. He invited me over a couple of times, but we could never make it work out. Then I noticed six months ago that he opened up a suite area of his home as an Airbnb. I told him a month ago, “I’m going to rent it out one night and do some videos in it.”
Stroud House today.
So here we are! People automatically associate any old house with it being haunted. I know many owners of old homes and I can tell you that it is not such a common occurrence as many people think. Most things can be explained away. My mom has owned two really old homes. They make noises. They creak, pipes creak, floorboards creak. Now the Stroud House, this one is different!!! They see shadow figures!
I asked David today if he could send me the history and some old pictures of it. When you read the history, the occurrences in the home don’t make sense. No deaths in the home, but there was one death in the back yard. No tragic events. Most shadow figures are usually associated with more malevolent forces, but they feel the energy in their home is rather benign and “playful”. So lets get to the history first.
Reverend Tommy and his wife, Esther at a covered dish lunch at Wake Union Baptist Church sometime in the 1960’s. (middle with short tie.)
The Stroud House was built in the early 1940’s by Reverend Isaac Thomas “Tommy” Stroud and his wife, Esther. Reverend Stroud was the pastor at Wake Union Baptist Church and Esther was the dietician for Wake Forest College’s Colonial Club Dormitory. For those in the Wake Forest area, it was located across from the Wake Forest Community House on Owen Avenue. (Dormitory is no longer standing)
Esther on steps of Colonial Club Dormitory.
Esther passed away in 1978, and Tommy died in 1981, while mowing the back yard of the Stroud House. He left the home to his daughter, Mildred and her husband, Reverend John Clinnard Brooks. John passed away in 1990 and Mildred moved to Rutherford County where she lived until her death in 2007. My friend, David Bissette was the great grandson of Reverend Stroud and his wife, Esther.
Esther Stroud with her daughters. David’s “Mimi” Mildred is the tall one in the middle with the light jacket.
David and his family moved into the Stroud House on Valentine’s Day in 1999. Strange occurrences started around Easter of that same year. They woke up one morning to find the hall light on. David asked around to the other member’s of the house, “Did anyone turn on the light?” Everyone said no. One evening his wife got home from work late. She got into bed and they were chatting. The hall light turned on again and flooded the house with light. His wife said, “You go turn that light off cause I’m really freaked out right now.”
Since then they have had the “standard” haunted house stuff happen: footsteps in the stairwell, attic and the hallway. A shadow person has been seen by everyone in the family on numerous occasions. There have been orbs seen in the dining room, the size of a dime, floating visibly with the naked eye. Pictures will fall off of walls, and even the ubiquitous music box that turns itself on. David’s daughters get pinched every so often. They believe the dog does as well! That’s the new information I wasn’t aware of! I’ve been having some shoulder pain. I’m going to ask it to pinch my shoulders multiple times like a massage. I’m not scurred!! Lol.
David did say it is never malicious or malevolent, just mildly disconcerting at times. I’m going into this with an open mind. Will try to disprove anything we see or hear. I am concerned that my camera person, Laura Weatherell, won’t appreciate being pinched by a shadow person. I already know what to say to calm her nerves, “So help me, if it pinches you and you drop my phone, you will be joining that shadow person!” Just kidding, Laura……kind of. Lol.
I will post a video tour of the home at 7:00 on Saturday evening! And we will even have people on video who experienced things in the home! I can’t wait!
I’m not scurred!!
