Investigators on the Scene: Marty Seibel, Lisa Rose, Robin Tapley, Mychael Hottle and Candy Woodruff
Weather: Clear, 46.4 degrees, 46% humidity, Wind: Southeast 5.8 MPH
Moon: waxing gibbous with 91% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated
Background History
Built circa 1838 by William M. Burwell and his wife, Frances Steptoe Burwell, Avenel has been the centerpiece of social, cultural, and political life in Bedford, VA for over 150 years. In 1906, Avenel was purchased from the Burwell family by J.W. Ballard and remained in the Ballard family until 1985 when it was purchased by the non-profit Avenel Foundation. Guests of Avenel House include authors Edgar Allan Poe, George Bagby, General Robert E. Lee (the table from which he drank his morning coffee still stands in the house). The house is noted as well for its haunted history, with many reports and sightings on a Lady in White in various areas of the house.
Investigation Objective
SVPS had been excited and eager to investigate this beautiful, historic home for a long, long time. Numerous paranormal groups from Virginia have captured very positive data and evidence from the house. We set up our investigation through Taffney Mays, who oversees the plantation through the Avenel Foundation. She was absolutely wonderful to work with, very knowledgeable, friendly and professional. We sincerely want to thank her and the Avenel Foundation for allowing us the opportunity to investigate the house.
Investigation Data
General Information
Base headquarters was set up on the first floor in the kitchen and occupied by one investigator at all times through out the investigation. We ran two groups of two investigators, one team on the first floor, the second team on the second floor. IR surveillance cameras were run on the second and first floors respectively.
Video Results
IR surveillance cameras were stationed in the Pink Bedroom, the Lee Bedroom and the staircase, which has been an area where the Lady in White has been spotted. A camera was also stationed at base headquarters in the kitchen to monitor the kitchen door which had been reported to slam shut. All cameras were allowed to run for the entire investigation 9 pm until 3 am.
No unusual activity was detected on cameras until about 2 am when camera 2 which was located in the Lee Bedroom revealed rapid, unexplained functions of two geophones we had placed in the room. Both geophones began to blink continously off and on for about a half an hour when they had been quite up until that point in the investigation. When Mychael Hottle and Marty Seibel went upstairs to observe the geophones, they stopped their activity immediately. When both investigators began to walk around outside and inside the bedroom, they were able to trigger the geophones into action.
Photograph Results
Photographs were taken with both the digital and 35 mm cameras and revealed no evidence of paranormal activity.
Views inside the Avenel Plantation
Audio Results
Evp work was done in every room in the house with a good bit of success coming from the pink bedroom upstairs. A constant whispering was also recorded as times that would classify as class c evps. Too bad but voices were certainly there and they were not ours.
"yes, it is.." Avenel House -- Recorded by Marty Seibel in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010
"yes, it is.." Avenel House -- Recorded by Marty Seibel in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010 evp only
"Hi" Avenel House -- Recorded by Marty Seibel in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010
"Hi" Avenel House -- Recorded by Marty Seibel in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010 evp only
"Toy" Avenel House -- Recorded by Marty Seibel in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010
"all week" Avenel House -- Recorded by Candy Woodruff in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010
"Yes" Avenel House -- Recorded by Candy Woodruff in Pink Bedroom. 03/27/2010
Personal Experiences
No personal experiences other than we all, the entire group witnessed the activity of the geophones in the upstairs Lee Bedroom. We simply could not explain what triggered them to act and behave as they did.
Final Conclusion : Haunted
The Avenel Plantation was an awesome place to investigate rich in history and beauty. Known by other paranormal groups as one of the more haunted houses in Virginia, it did not disappoint. The geophone activity recorded on dvr was certainly unexplained and the numerous evps recorded in various locations through out the house lead us to firmly believe this house is haunted. It is our hope that we can investigate again soon. We would highly recommend this location to other paranormal groups in the field. Taffney Mays is wonderful to work with and we would encourage donations to the historical foundation as well. It is a historical treasure that we all can enjoy!
Please donate to the Historic Avenel Foundation