Haunted Ohio: Squire's Castle in Willoughby Hills
Ask most people about where to find castles and they probably won't point to Ohio. But, here in Ohio, we have quite a few! The one I want to focus on today is the haunted Squire's Castle.
Standard Oil – the same company that made John D. Rockefeller his fortune – also made Feargus B. Squire a wealthy man. Born in 1850 in the United Kingdom, he made his way to the US and started working for Standard Oil in the 1870s. After marrying his wife, Louisa, in 1876, the two lived in multiple homes in Cleveland and nearby Wickliffe, Ohio.
Hoping to build an even better home for his wife, Squire both a large piece of land in 1890. Though it's now part of Willoughby Hills, it was then a piece of rural land surrounded by the forest. It was here where he started construction on their future home: River Farm Estate. Squire wanted to recreate the English manor homes he saw as a child.
The first structure added to the property was a gatekeeper's house. Construction began in 1895 and ended roughly two years later. Workers used both sandstone and bluestone sourced from local quarries to complement the Romanesque Revival building. With three floors, a large basement, and leaded glass windows, it was an impressive sight to behold.
Though Squire originally planned for the gatekeeper's house to simply greet visitors and give the caretaker a place to stay, those plans changed. It took longer to build the house than he expected. He also ran into problems when it came to both finding workers and sourcing more stone. In the end, it became nothing more than a summer home. While he and his daughter enjoyed their visits, Louisa despised the property so much that she refused to visit.
Growing tired of her complaints about him being away from home, Squire cut back on his visits. To make some money off what she called a mistake, Squire sold the house and its more than 500 acres of land to a local developer in 1922. Not long after, the developer went bankrupt and turned the property over to a bank. In 1925, the Cleveland Park Board bought the entire estate from the bank. The Board removed every floor except the first and filled the basement with concrete before renaming it Squire's Castle and opening it to the public.
Squire's Castle is now part of the Cleveland MetroParks, which is the modern version of the Cleveland Parks Board. You'll find walking and hiking trails as well as the Squire's Castle Picnic Area, all of which are part of the North Chagrin Reservation. The Cleveland MetroParks even let people wander through the open gatekeeper's house.
While many believe Squire's Castle is haunted, the popular internet story gets a few things wrong. The classic story claims Squire built the home for Louisa in the early 19th century. During their first trip, Louisa woke in the middle of a dark and stormy night, instantly fearful of the noises she heard outside. As a city girl, the crickets chirping, thunder booming, and animals running through the woods were all new and different. Louisa tripped, fell down the stairs, and died when she hit her head on the stone floor.
Another internet story claims Squire used ropes around the home to catch any animals that tried to get inside. Louisa accidentally hanged herself on one of those ropes when she fell down the stairs. Squire was allegedly so traumatized he moved her body to the basement and left it there forever.
Unfortunately, these stories get a lot of things wrong. First, Squire's Castle didn't exist in the early 19th century. It was built closer to the turn of the 20th century. Second, Squire never intended it to be their permanent home. It was always just the first building on his planned estate. Third, while Louisa did die, she didn't die in the castle. Louisa actually passed away in Wickliffe in 1927, years after her husband sold the property.
The truth hasn't stopped rumors from spreading about Louisa haunting Squire's Castle. Legend claims she roams through the house at night as if following the same path she took that night. She often appears near the basement doorway to warn visitors of what might happen if they try to get inside.
It's pretty easy to see why Squire's Castle developed a haunted reputation. In the early days, it was common for others to break in and wreak havoc on the interior. That didn't stop when it became part of the park's department. Many of the leaded glass windows were broken, and many of the design elements inside went missing. Cleveland MetroParks removed most of the interior, leaving what looks like the shell of a former home.
In addition to Louisa, some claim to see a red light moving through the building at night. It flickers in the same way an old lantern does and only appears after dark. Some who managed to get inside claimed to hear the sound of someone moving around the building. While you might think it's just animals, they are adamant that they heard a person's footsteps and not animals.
You can visit Squire's Castle today, though I wouldn't recommend staying after sunset when the park closes. Squire's Castle is part of the North Chagrin Reservation on River Road in Willoughby Hills, Ohio.
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