I have been a fan of the Whaley House since I visited it as a child in the mid-eighties. I have visited the Whaley House three times since SOHO took it over from the Historical Shrine Foundation, and I must say that I am extremely disappointed. Now, (to me,) it feels like an empty shell of its former glory. It doesn't seem to have the same feeling that it used to.
I worked in the Old Town plaza a year or so ago, and the rumor was that since SOHO took over, there have been no more significant ghost encounters. Is this true?
I must say that most of my disappointment comes in the fact that the SOHO people really couldn't care less about the history and mystery of the Whaley House. I was a visitor during Halloween week in 2004, and I was appalled to see how ill-informed the docents were. They could barely answer any question asked of them, or they answered them incorrectly. Something as simple as the Whaley House HOURS went answered incorrectly.
You would also think that during Halloween, they would tell visitors at least a LITTLE bit about the paranormal activity of the house- but no- they dwelled more on the history of the "Whaley and Croswaithe" General Store. Many people left that night disillusioned.
I feel as if SOHO took over the Whaley House as a capital venture instead of truly caring for the house. All they seem to care about is the $$$.
I re-visited Whaley on Feb. 25th and the docents were quite friendly and helpful (maybe I caught them on a good day). One related quite a few stories and experiences concerning activity in this dwelling. That same afternoon (which was fairly quiet) the ladies on duty even kept the upstairs off-limits for a while for me to observe it alone. Nothing happened, either seen by my eyes or the camera lens.
Ah, but downstairs in the courtroom was a different story. I have two orb photos shot within a five minute period. Very strong images, even more so than I was fortunate to get in the Queen Mary Engine Room only two weeks earlier. They're under scrutiny and I feel safe to say at least one is a positive orb (ruled out reflections, etc.).
My website is currently going through construction, but I'll be posting them as soon as I can manage. They will also be in my new book "Visiting Haunted Southern California", due to be in print by June '05.
The soho are more into the money...I am not happy that they remodelled the house it was fine the way it was...they are definately more into the history of the house then the paranormal. I was disappointed last time to find that we can no longer do evp recordings although there are ways to get by that...regardless the ghosts are still there and still active..just luck on if ya catch it or not...
