SAVANNAH, Ga. (WJCL) – Crews are hard at work fixing up a Savannah home with ties to the early 1900s.
The house at 12 West Oglethorpe Avenue has been vacant for years and was hit by a fire a few years back. But now a Savannah businessman is spending more than a million dollars to fix it up.
“It’s fantastic to see them actually restoring it to its original state,” said Savannah resident Sandra Hensley. While there’s excitement about this old home coming back to life, there’s some who say, the original owners never left.
“My daughter just stopped, she’s a little 3 year old, she said, ‘mommy why is that lady crying?’” said Savannah resident Rebecca Debreceny. “What’s wrong with her?”
But what she saw - or rather what she didn’t - was chilling.
“I did not see anything,” said Debreceny. “But she was adamant that there was a lady there.”
That isn’t the only creepy story surrounding the house. It’s a featured stop on many ghost tours.
Many say it was the home of a doctor who spread yellow fever to his family and some even say it sits on top of a grave yard. The house was built in the early 20th century.
It was later used as an Elks lodge. It was then turned into a school.
But recently it’s sat vacant. And the haunted tales took off.
An appealing purchase for Michael Wakely. “The hauntingness of the house is intriguing,” said Wakely.
Wakely would like a restaurant to move inside. But first there’s a lot of work to do to fix it up.
He gave WJCL a tour Wednesday. You can see the fire damage.
And there’s graffiti on the third floor walls. As for paranormal activity, Wakely says he hasn’t experienced any yet, although he likes to joke about it.
“Mike you want to take them to the dungeon?” said Wakely.
While Wakely has found some old artifacts, and quirky steel doors, he says he’s found no evidence to support the yellow fever story.
“I think that house is pretty much long gone,” Wakely said.
But for some, the stories are enough to make their skin crawl.
“At night time I think I’ll be a little bit more nervous,” said Debreceny. Wakely said work to restore the home should be completed in a year.
