Summerwind Mansion

With a terrifying history of dark apparitions, disappearing corpses, attempted suicides, and demonic possessions, the infamous Summerwind Mansion is easily one of the most haunted places in Wisconsin... and for good reason. Originally renovated in 1916 by US Secretary of Commerce Robert Lamont, the Summerwind Mansion, AKA Lamont Mansion, was rumored to be haunted before anyone had the chance to live in it. During the 15 years that the Lamont family resided at Summerwind Mansion, they experienced a vast array of strange and unexplainable things, but the incident that finally drove the family from their home occurred in the mid-1930's. One evening while the family was dining, the door to the basement flew open unexpectedly, and the apparition of a man materialized out of thin air. Lamont grabbed his pistol and shot twice, sending the spirt back into the cellar. Afterwards, the family abandoned their mansion, and it sat empty until the 1970's. The bullet holes remained visible for many years afterward. In the early 70's, Arnold and Ginger Hinshaw bought the Summerwind and began renovations to turn the mansion into their dream home. As you might have predicted, their dreams were quickly dashed by the paranormal. Renovators would leave partway through projects, claiming they could not work in a house where so many bizarre things continued to happen. There were so many reports of electrical problems, disappearing tools, and windows opening and closing by themselves, that the family could hardly keep track.   Abandoned by their crew, the Hinshaws had to take renovations into their own hands. One night while painting a closet, Arnold removed a dresser drawer and found a hidden crawl space. Too large to fit inside, he sent in Mary (his youngest daughter) to investigate. There's since been plenty of speculation about what happened next, but according to Mary, she found the remains of a human skull and a handful of black hair. The family didn't report the incident to the police, however, and years later when authorities decided to investigate the space, the skull had mysteriously disappeared. Over the six months the Hinshaws lived in the house, they began behaving strangely — Arnold particularly. He began staying up late into the night playing the Hammond Organ, which he explained was to keep the demon of the house at bay. The mansion was again abandoned shortly afterwards. One last attempt at renovating the house was made in the 1980's, and yet again the strangeness began scaring away any help the homeowners could wrangle. Many people reported seeing random furniture appearing in pictures, room dimensions suddenly changing, and even dark shadows in full view of people. Finally, in the summer of 1988, the house was struck by lightening, and much of it burned to the ground. Since then, many curious legend seekers and paranormal investigators have visited what remains of the house, and according to those who have made the trek through the woods, the ghosts of Summerwind Mansion are still up to their own tricks. It's on private property, but as its being restored, you might be able to grab the rare chance to visit if you volunteer to help fix it up! Summerwind, formerly known as Lamont Mansion, is a ruined mansion on the shores of West Bay Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin. As a result of abandonment, the elements, and fire, little of the mansion remains standing. Located on private land, its ruins are closed to the public. Summerwind is reputed to be haunted and has been popular with paranormal tourists. The mansion was featured on an episode of A Haunting. Summerwind was built in the early 20th century as a fishing lodge on the edge of West Bay Lake in Vilas County, in northeastern Wisconsin. In 1916 it was purchased by Robert Patterson Lamont, who employed Chicago architects Tallmadge and Watson to substantially remodel the property and convert it into a mansion. The renovations took two years to complete, and led to the near total reconstruction of significant portions of the property. Lamont remained at Summerwind for about 15 years, during which time the maids told Lamont that the mansion was haunted. Although he did not believe them because the building was too new, he is reported to have abandoned the property suddenly in the mid-1930s after witnessing an apparition in the mansion's kitchen.  Local legend holds that he and his wife were eating dessert in the kitchen, when the door to the basement started to shake open, revealing the ghostly form of a man. Lamont was reported to have taken one look at the ghost, and pulled out a pistol. The ghost swung the door shut and Lamont squeezed off two shots in its direction, before fleeing the residence with his wife.