VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Haunted Hampton Roads has gone from the Oceanfront out to the countryside in Surry County and now, to the edges of the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach and the Ferry Plantation House and the 11 spirits that coexist there.
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Ferry Plantation House is a sort of calm in the storm for those who know it well.“Most people are like, ‘Aren’t you scared to death of going in there?’ And I’m like, ‘No, actually, it relaxes me,’” said Ferry Plantation House Director of Research Kristen Ellis said.Ellis has written a book on the home’s hauntings, called Haunted Ferry Plantation.“It’s super positive,” said Cody Green, Ferry Plantation House vice president. “It’s just a great feeling in the house, along with the energy. It makes it a completely different, quote-unquote, haunted house.”And Green is what they call a “sensitive,” able to see the spirits that inhabit the house.One side of the house is the former Princess Ann County courthouse, built in 1735. It was added on to in 1830 for Charles MacIntosh. In the 1980’s Belinda Nash saved it from being demolished.The building is home to 11 spirits — what you might call a full house. One of them is a five-year old girl, Bessie, who died in 1865.“One of the guests and another visitor that came in were both sensitives, meaning they could see our spirits,” Ellis said. “And they said while we were talking, they both — I saw their eyes follow — and they said that Bessie came into the room and immediately saw it was full of people and came and stood right behind my chair like a little kid. Like she was comfortable with me, but kind of peeking out, cause she was shy around them.”Early on, Green once spent the night on an air mattress with his paranormal investigation team and met with a rather mischievous spirit.“It was like 4 a.m., just getting to sleep and I feel myself raise up and lower down,” Green said. “It happens again and I shoot up, and we heard the giggle. And the people in the next room heard the giggle too. One of our spirits, Stella, thinks it’s hilarious. Every time she stepped on my air mattress, I rose up.”The spirit Henry is the protector of the house and a former slave on the plantation.“He was very loved by the family,” Green said. “They actually gave him a room in the house after the Civil War ended.”His room, at the top of the house, is one you must ask permission before entering to show respect.“It was my team’s first time here,” Green said. “I opened the door, I was like, ‘Henry, James is going to bring a piece of equipment up, alright?’ ‘Come on up.’ And James’ eyes got real big and he ran up there looking for a speaker, moved everything out of the way, thought someone was messing with him.”I may have heard him, or someone, during our tour. But you can judge for yourself if that “Hey” was a spirit or not.And with 11 spirits roaming around, it’s enough to turn any skeptic into a believer.“There was a man on the tour,” Ellis said. “He and the person he was with went up to the nursery and them immediately came down really quickly and they’re asking me all these questions. And I’m like, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘We were standing up there, it was just the two of us and we were talking and the door to the nursery closet just completely swung open.’ And then he got really close to me and said, ‘This house will make a believer out of you.’”
The plantation is also home to a couple ghost cats that have been known to rub against visitors’ legs.
If you want to tour the house and judge for yourself, visit their website here…