Mason House Inn Bed & Breakfast of Bentonsport, IA
Writing by Susan Hilliard on Thursday, 5 of May , 2005 at 11:20 pm
Information courtesy of Joy Hanson
Here’s our story: When we (Chuck and Joy Hanson) bought the Mason House Inn Bed and Breakfast in Bentonsport, Iowa in 2001, we were told there was an old lady ghost in the south room on the 3rd floor. But if we left her alone, she would leave us alone. That did not bother us and we just use that room as storage and keep the door closed. But soon after we moved in, we noticed things going on and felt
things and then started seeing things that led us to believe there was more than just the one old lady. Our guests would tell us things they saw and felt and heard and I started keeping a journal of the reports.
About a year ago a teacher brought her class here for a tour and in one of the pictures there is a boy that is not in her class. He is wearing a Civil War type hat. (See the attached picture, it is the figure of the boy in the window.) After that, it got around pretty fast that we are haunted. Then, a few months ago, Christopher Moon called me from Denver, Colo. and said that someone had contacted him about an encounter they experienced while staying here. Christopher approached me about coming here and doing his Ghost Hunting class on May 21, 2005. I agreed because I would like to see what he comes up with.
I know what we have experienced and what some of our guests have experienced, but Mr. Moon uses scientific methods to determine hauntings, and I’d like to see if he can come up with scientific evidence of what we already know. Of course, I know that he may come up with something else or maybe nothing at all, but it should be interesting anyway. Sometimes we go for months without anything happening, ghost-wise, and then several things will happen in a row, then nothing again. It has been quiet since March, so we are due for something again soon. You can read about some of our experiences at: http://hotels.about.com/od/iowa/p/masonhouse.htm.
Things have happened since I gave that interview, but you can see what kind of things happen around here. It’s nothing to be afraid of, they don’t want to hurt people. We’ve been told they are happy here and don’t want to leave.
I also want people to know they don’t have to be afraid of staying here at the Inn, because we do have some “safe” rooms that have never experienced any kind of encounter. And people have to be sensitive to that kind of thing already to experience any ‘encounter’. If you are not sensitive, you may not notice anything at all. My husband, Chuck, has lived here as long as I have and he has never seen, heard, or felt anything. I, on the other hand, am sensitive and had already experienced things in other places before moving here. Our oldest daughter has not had as many experiences as our second daughter, who seems to be as sensitive as I am.
**Here’s a new picture from Mason House Inn - They turned their color picture into black and white to get rid of the glare in the window and so everyone could see the ghostly figure of the boy with the Civil War Hat on in front of the window behind the high school students there to explore the ghostly history in each room… Little did they know that part of the ghostly history was in the room with them…
Innkeepers: Chuck and Joy Hanson
Mason House Inn
Bed & Breakfast of Bentonsport, IA
E-mail: Stay@MasonHouseInn.com
Phone: 319-592-3133
For Reservations: 1-800-592-3133
Address: 21982 Hawk Drive, Bentonsport, Iowa 52565
How to find us: Please visit our maps page.
Category: Ghostly Tours, Haunted Homes
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Comment by anne
Made Monday, 22 of October , 2007 at 9:16 pm
wow spooky
Comment by anne
Made Monday, 22 of October , 2007 at 9:17 pm
my house is haunted too i have seen things and herd things! my parents don’t believe my but really it is! i seee things out of the corner of my eye i feel a presence in the room!
Comment by Nigel
Made Sunday, 24 of February , 2008 at 5:00 pm
We deal with ghosts as part of our work, and we have found that one of the easiest methods of determining whether they are present, how many, etc, is to use dowsing. It’s such a simple skill to learn, you can do it in so many ways and you can find out so much about whatever it is you’re after. (Like most things, you do really need to practice at it to get better and better, but it really is something anyone can do.)
I really think there are more haunted houses than people think. Some people are just able to ‘feel’ or sense them more easily than others. After all, you don’t always have to see things to believe in them. Sometimes, a feeling is more than enough!
