It’s a familiar mantra, repeated over and over in countless racing minds after hearing something go bump in the night: “There are no such things as ghosts.” But this is not a declaration you’ll hear at the Conrad Mansion on Oct. 5 and 6.
For the third year, the staff at the historic Conrad Mansion Museum will host ghost tours, taking visitors on candlelit walks through the building and telling their own stories of the unexplainable.
“It is the stories of the guides in the mansion and other people that have seen or heard or smelled things,” Margot Jaumotte, assistant director at the museum, said.
Most of the ghost stories involve some sort of interaction with the deceased members of the Conrad family, who the staff believe enjoyed living in the mansion so much that they have decided to spend some of their afterlife there, too.
Last year’s event was jam packed with thrill seekers, and this year the tours are only offered on one weekend – Oct. 5 and Oct. 6. The tours start after dark at 7 p.m. and leave every 15 minutes until 9 p.m.
Tickets cost $10, and are available at the museum’s gift shop, Tuesday through Sunday. The staff strongly suggests reservations, since the ghost tours tend to sell out each year.
And though the ghost stories don’t typically involve malicious behavior, they can get creepy enough that the tour is not recommended for children.
Charles E. Conrad built the Victorian home in Kalispell in 1895. The family’s original furnishings and effects are still in the mansion, housed in 26 rooms on multiple levels.
The ghost tours evolved from the mansion’s regular tours; after the typical walk-through, guests would ask the guides if they had ever experienced anything paranormal or seen anything unexplained.
 |
|
An open door leads to the children’s playroom where Alicia Conrad used to play on the third floor. A little girl looking out from the third windows is the most commonly reported apparition. file photo by lido Vizzutti | Flathead Beacon |
Most guides have a story to tell, Jaumotte said, and so do members of the community who have spent time in the historic building. Each year, the ghost tours add new stories to tell visitors, because more people are coming out of the woodwork with a tale about their experiences there.
“You start something like this and everybody has a story,” Jaumotte said.
The assistant director has one of her own. Once, while walking in a hallway on the second floor, Jaumotte felt someone or something brush past her, apparently heading the other direction.
There are also stories of items moving overnight, despite a sophisticated security system in place, and the appearance of a woman in a white dress watching a man paint a room in the house late at night.
The mansion has multiple floors, and each level has a story and purpose of its own. The history alone is enough to keep a tour rapt, but turning out the lights and leading by candlelight gives an additional spooky feeling, Jaumotte said.
She also stressed again that the apparitions and unexplainable experiences do not seem to be malevolent, but rather a visit from a family who truly loved their experiences in the mansion.
“Everything that has happened here to anybody, the ghosts are more mischievous than they are malicious,” Jaumotte said. “They love the house so much that they just don’t want to leave.”
 |
|
Standing in the master bedroom, Kofford describes how each morning during an annual Christmas bazaar the same three paintings are removed from the walls and stacked in the center of the floor. file photo by lido Vizzutti | Flathead Beacon |
With all the stories, the tour lasts about an hour, and anyone with an imagination and a willingness to give in to the whisper in their mind that contradicts the no-ghosts mantra should enjoy themselves.
“It’s a fun time, it really is,” Jaumotte said.
For more information on the Conrad Mansion Museum, visit www.conradmansion.com or call 406-755-2166.