Mysteries, unsolved crimes and the occult make for a great story, but these are not
words most people use to describe their homes.
Hi everyone, ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring what some have called Long Island’s Most Haunted House, Winfield
Hall.
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House.
When Frank Winfield Woolworth was only 16 years old, he dropped out of school and left
his family’s modest farm in Rodman, New York.
Entering the workforce, he jumped from job to job working in sales, constantly disappointing
his employers and getting himself fired, but there was always one thing he enjoyed about
these jobs- setting up the window displays.
When he was 27 years old, he borrowed 300 dollars to open his own 5 cent store, but
the business collapsed within just a few short weeks.
Taking what he had learned from his failure, he opened a similar store in Lancaster Pennsylvania
just a few months later.
This time he was successful.
Over the next couple decades, the FW Woolworth Company expanded to include 586 stores, though
it would eventually grow to over 1000 stores in the US, Canada, and the UK.
By 1913, he had created a business empire and set out to build the tallest building
in the world.
At a staggering cost of 13 million dollars, or the modern day equivalent of nearly 390
million dollars, the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, which he paid cash for, became
the tallest building in the world.
A few years later, he began searching for a vacation home.
He purchased Humphrey’s Estate on Long Island which had been built in 1902.
Upon closing on the house, the estate mysteriously burst into flames and was totally lost to
an inferno.
But this did not trouble Frank because he already had a set of plans drafted up and
ready to go for his dream house to take its spot, leading to gossip about arson though
no charges were ever brought against him.
Within 6 short months, the entire estate had been completely transformed with a 65,000
square foot beaux arts style mansion taking the place of Humphrey’s Estate.
The 57 room mansion had cost a staggering 9 million dollars, or the modern day equivalent
of nearly 245 million dollars.
About the approach to the home from the street, Architectural Historian Monica Randall wrote:
A long circular drive takes you past glades of ancient trees, a massive carriage house
and a wide panorama of Roman statuary.
A life-size statue of King Neptune stands in a pool amid pink-colored stone horses and
dolphins, where Tiffany gold and blue mosaic tiles set off an arched grotto that was lit
with amber-hued lights.
Winfield stood to the north where at one time dozens of life-size Greek and Roman gods on
marble pedestals guarded the long drive.
Walking inside, you would be greeted by a marble entrance hall.
The stairs had been constructed from pink colored marble which had cost 2 million dollars
alone.
The ceiling was surfaced with 14 carrot gold leaf and coffered in the appearance of honeycombs.
Here we begin to see the eccentricities which gained the house it’s reputation.
Above the fireplace was a coat of arms which Frank had designed himself.
He stood tall with his wife by his side wearing a helmet and the faces of his 3 daughters
on the shields below them.
Scattered about the house, hidden in the tiny details were occult symbols from Egyptian
mythology such as scarabs and cartouches with mysterious writings accompanying them.
The entrance hall shot straight through to the back of the house, offering expansive
views of the manicured gardens and fountains.
The Music room was ornately decorated with massive crystal chandelier suspended from
the ceiling.
Some of the furnishings in the house had belonged to Napoleon Bonapart, though Frank claimed
they were always his.
As he aged, he began to believe that he was the reincarnation of Napoleon and was known
to wear Napoleons dress uniforms around the house and even sit in a throne from which
he would bark orders at his servants.
The dining room was designed in the English Georgian style with a large conservatory off
the back separated by wood screens and ornate fretwork.
Frank became obsessed with time travel and hosted many dinners in this room to discuss
the possibility with scientists and inventors, paying them for research into the matter.
Going upstairs, Frank’s bedroom was gilted to the height of gilded age glamor and included
a bed once slept in by Napoleon.
There was a secret tunnel which connected his bedroom to his mistresses bedroom while
his wife’s bedroom had only a small bed and a single rocking chair on the opposite
side of the house.
Frank’s delusions and blatant behavior became too much for his family to handle. he had
filled the library with spell books and writings of ancient magic while parading about dressed
as Napoleon.
We don’t have to imagine how hard this was on the family.
One of his daughters took her own life in the house.
And upon Frank’s death in 1919, his widow immediately abandoned the house.
It sat empty for several years until Walter Chrysler offered the family 800 thousand dollars
for the house, but they refused this offer as it was too low.
Finally, in 1925, Winfield was auctioned off for 395,000 dollars to Frank’s oldest daughter,
Helena’s husband Charles McCann.
Helena allowed her extended family to use the home for various events, but eventually
sold it in 1929 to Julia Louise Parham whose husband had recently invented Reynolds Wrap.
In 1963, she sold Winfield to Grace Downs who used the home to train girls to become
super models.
30 models moved into the home and it was unofficially renamed to the Glamor Manor.
By this time, the house had fallen into some disrepair and reports of strange sounds began
freaking out the models.
They uncovered secret passages, trap doors, and tunnels.
All of this coupled with occult symbols carved into the stone work prompted them to seek
out a paranormal expert.
They conducted a séance in the house and then one by one, over the next few years,
the models began mysteriously dying in mansion.
This caused the school to shut down and in 1975 all the antiques and furnishings were
sold.
The house was also sold to a group of 3 investors, but one of them mysteriously disappeared and
another abandoned the project leaving Winfield to the sole possession of Martin T Carey.
He leased the house out to several businesses and hollywoood productions, such as HBO’s
award winning show Mildred Pierce, but the house continued to fall into disrepair.
With growing costs, the Carey’s attempted to sell the home but could not find a buyer
for the mansion which had a property tax of 257,000 dollars per year.
In 2015, a mysterious fire broke out and consumed nearly one third of the house causing millions
upon millions of dollars of damage.
Mr Carey passed away in 2020 with the cause of the fire still unresolved.
Earlier this year, the mansion sold for 8, 250, 000 dollars.
Thankfully, through its many fires and mysterious happenings, the mansion has survived to this
day mostly intact.
Which room was your favorite?
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