Weird Wednesdays: The George Stickney House

In Bull Valley, there exists one of the strangest homes in Illinois. It is located in rural McHenry County, Illinois, near Woodstock. The house I am talking about is the George Stickney House (also referred to as the Stickney Mansion).

You will notice right away something odd about this house: there are no sharp corners. The design of the home is Italianate. It is a beautiful home. Since 1979, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stickney was the first in the township when he arrived there in 1835. Stickney was a very prosperous farmer, and he acquired enough money to build the home of his dreams. The home was built in 1856.

Aside from being a farmer, Stickney was a Spiritualist. He performed séances that were attended by many, including the most elite in the area. This influenced the design of the home. As a Spiritualist, Stickney believes that spirits hid in the corners. So problem solved: he got rid of the corners.

According to Haunted Places.org

Because of George Stickney’s belief in spiritualism, he designed his house with no 90-degree angles inside so that no spirits would be caught in the corners. The Stickneys had 10 children, but only 3 lived to adulthood, and they are said to have regularly conducted seances on the 2nd floor to speak to their children. Currently the building houses the local police department, and many spooky events occur here. Tenants after the Stickneys, and later, police officers, have noted apparitions, moving objects, electrical phenomena, doors opening by themselves, and more. The Holcombville Cemetery where the Stickney children are buried lies nearby, and they are said to haunt the entire neighborhood along with the spirit of a passenger killed in the crash of American Airlines Flight 191.

(The Stickney House is now the Bull Valley Police Headquarters and Richard Vance is a Village Administrator and Police Officer.)

From thegeorgestickneyhousemariahruiz.blogspot.com:

The story on the house is that George and Sylvia Stickney had ten children, but only 3 survived to adulthood. George and Sylvia were Mediums, which means they could talk to the dead. They would hold seances to communicate to their children who passed away. They also allowed others to come into their house so that they also can talk to their loved ones. George and Sylvia wanted to build a house that would be easier to communicate with their children. The Stickney’s believed that 90-degree angles were bad for spirits because the spirits would get stuck in the corner and house the evil spirits. When building their mansion, they wanted everything to be rounded so that the spirits can move freely, even the ceiling is rounded. Rumor has it that a 90-degree angle in the house is were George Stickney died. Richard confirmed that wasn’t true.  The house was searched and documented and there was no 90-degree angles found at the time of George’s death. He also confirmed that George’s death was never documented, so no one knows how he died. 

I asked Richard Vance what type of experiences he had in the house. He told me some stories about what happened to him and other officers. He said the spirits like to move things around on his desk. They have made his stapler vibrate vigorously, they stood all of his pencils on their erasers and things have flown off of shelves. He even told me that he has seen a lot of different spirits and talked to them as well. The spirits like to move around chairs. There are specifically two chairs that are upstairs that move often. They like to move them close together or stack them on tables. Richard told me he has talked to spirits threw a voice box.  He didn’t get into details with what was said but he has communicated with them. Richard described how it feels when a spirit touches you. He said, “There body feels like a spiderweb meshed into human figure, a cold, electric shock when they touch you.” Richard says that the spirits touch him all the time. They touch him on his face, hands, and arms. One time he had his gun on his side and a spirit poked him underneath his gun. Throughout the interview, Richard Vance kept reminding me that the house isn’t bad. The Stickney’s were good people, they just wanted to talk to their dead children.

Sylvia Stickney is the most active spirit in the house. Everyone that works there has seen her and say she is very beautiful. Sylvia Stickney wears a white gown and she loves children.  Richard informed me about an experience a little boy had while visiting the Stickney house. The boy was very scared to go inside because of what he had heard about it. When asked if he was still scared later on, he replied, “No, the nice women told me that I shouldn’t be scared, so I’m not scared anymore!” When they asked the little boy to describe what the women looked like, he pointed to the picture of Sylvia Stickney.  

Richard Vance told me about the most active places and times of the house. The Stickney family is the most active spirits in the house besides the Indians. Richard believes that the Indians were on the property before the Stickney family built there home. He said that the spirits are more active from 5pm to 8pm and on the weekends. Richard said that the Stickney house still celebrates Mayday, which is the most active day out of the year. Mayday is a celebration on May 1st, which was a very big holiday in the 1800’s where everyone would celebrate with dancing and singing outside. The Stickney’s held tons of parties on Mayday. Whenever it rains, the house is more active as well. Richard confirmed what I read online that the second floor of the house and the staircase is the most active.

(You can read about Maria’s experience when she visited the second floor at the link posted above.)

SOURCES: ATLAS OBSCURA

                  HAUNTED PLACES.ORG

                  thegeorgestickneyhousemariahruiz.blogspot.com