The New York State Ghostbuster Law
We drove to Nyack to see the house on the right at the dead end street overlooking the Hudson River. Itās haunted. In 1991, a couple in contract to buy it, suddenly wanted their down payment returned when they learned the house had ghosts. They had to take the case to the New York Appellate Court which ruled in their favor. The case is known as Stambovsky v. Ackley And New York State laws now says that an owner has to disclose if a house is haunted. Not too many people know about the law or the house, except for real estate agents and law students.
Our Visit to Laveta Place
A Mini Cooper convertible was parked in front of the house when we arrived, but it didnāt look like anyone was home so we took our picture in front and then walked across the street to a similar house that had a for rent sign. I walked up to knock on the front door but I could see through the window that the house was completely empty, except for a rocking chair. The wraparound porch has spectacular views of the Hudson River. We took our photo.
This empty house felt more haunted than the famous one. A former owner of the 1 Laveta Place home described the ghosts as two girls in 18th century hoop skirts and a small man in a red coat, which indicates a British soldier from that era.
No one was home in either of the houses at the end of this street when we visited, but it didnāt feel like we were alone. A case of nerves, maybe…? Or maybe not…
You might thing that buying a known haunted house would mean a discount. The house the law was written for is valued by Zillow.com at $2.2 million. The other house, the one in our Instagram post, is valued at $5.3 million. Itās much larger, modern and has a stone staircase leading to a tile and stone deck at the riverside!
Do you believe in ghosts?
A HuffPost/You.gov poll found that 43% of people in the United States believe in them. A Chapman University poll found 53% of their survey believe. The comments on my Instagram post were a mix. I imagine the four people who have bought the house in these past 28 years didnāt believe in ghosts, but they didnāt keep the house for very long. This is a house by the water and water is a portal for spirits. That’s why bridges are often rumored to be haunted.
This entire Hudson Valley is filled with rumors and stories of ghosts. From the porch in my photo, you can see the town of Sleepy Hollow, the setting in the famous Legend of Sleepy Hollow! written by Washington Irving in 1820. The famous haunted scene of the story is of the headless horseman on a bridge!.
Last Halloween, we visited Washington Irving’s home for a Halloween tour (Instagram post just above). If you had strong binoculars, you would be able to see the Nyack homes acrosss the river.
Spooky Photo
Are ghosts real? Thatās for you to decide…
My grandmother always told me, āDonāt be afraid of the dead, be afraid of the living.ā
I’ll leave you with this last photo taken during a visit to someone’s house. The window is too high for this to be a person in the window.
It sure looks like Coco is trying to alert us to something…. In this case, there was no one in the window! It’s just a shadow of a wooden post!
Sunday Stills is a great inspiration for new blog posts! I often come up with ideas I would never have thought about. Come join us!
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