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Ghost Stories
updated: Oct 10, 2012, 11:00 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

Someone told me recently that Summerland is "haunted." When I mentioned that to a couple of other people they said they had heard that as well. Does anyone know what the story is?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 329974	2012-10-10 11:08 AM
Google "The Spirit of the Big Yellow House" - I've heard for years that that place is haunted, hadn't heard all of Summerland though.
COMMENT 329977P	2012-10-10 11:08 AM
I've heard the Big Yellow House was extremely haunted but I don't remember the specifics. Something about original owners having seances I believe. It'd be interesting to know the details!
COMMENT 329979	2012-10-10 11:12 AM
Yeah I heard some young girl died in there...
COMMENT 329980	2012-10-10 11:17 AM
I heard the ghosts did not like the remodel and took off.
EDHATBARBARA	2012-10-10 11:18 AM
Summerland was founded by a spiritualist colony. "Summerland" itself is a euphemism for the afterlife. A little internet research will disclose much. Rod Lathim, a local author and actor has written about the Big Yellow House and his Summerland experiences and Richard Senate, a Ventura ghost hunter, has done so as well.
COMMENT 329984	2012-10-10 11:22 AM
Summerland was founded by spiritualists.
EDHATBARBARA	2012-10-10 11:22 AM
From Wikipedia: "In 1883, spiritualist and real estate speculator H.L. Williams founded the town of Summerland. In 1888 he divided his land tract, on a moderately sloping hill facing the ocean, into numerous parcels. He promoted the tiny lots – 25 x 60 – to fellow spiritualists, who bought them in quantity and moved to the area. The houses they built included bizarre architectural features such as doors which opened to walls, and stairways ascending to nowhere. The spiritual center of the town was a community séance room, demolished only when Highway 101 was put through in the 1950s."
COMMENT 329986	2012-10-10 11:23 AM
According to the "SB Chumash & Ghost tour",Transcendentalists,Mediums & Paranormalists from the E. coast started coming here in the 1880`s after learning of the power here. They settled in "Summerland" which was named for the level of Heaven closest to Earth [Koran?] & opened the Big Yellow House[not orig. name] as their head-quarters to perform seances & such... Even Houdini & Theroeau came to contact the after-life. The Big Y. House is haunted by a woman & 2 workers that have been documented by legit. ghost hunters such as Richard Senate & local ghost hunter, Peter Olmos.
EDHATBARBARA	2012-10-10 11:28 AM
Some websites of interest with more info: http://www.rodlathim.com/RodLathim.com/The_Spirit_of_the_Big_Yellow_House.html http://www.summerlandsite.com/history.htm http://www.santabarbara.com/community/neighboring_communities/summerland/ http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosthunting/hauntedcities/RichardSenate'hauntedPlace.php http://www.worldu.edu/library/big_yellow_house.htm
COMMENT 330006P	2012-10-10 12:04 PM
Haunted = overactive imagination
COMMENT 330010	2012-10-10 12:37 PM
@980, it wasn't so much the remodel that turned the ghosts off, it was the cuisine and bad service at The Big Yellow House; is it still in business today?
COMMENT 330011	2012-10-10 12:40 PM
Aforementioned ghost-hunter here... I`ve never heard a "believer" say "I no longer believe"... But I HAVE heard non-believers say, "I now believe"...
COMMENT 330012	2012-10-10 12:43 PM
006P doesn't have enough imagination. C'mon, Halloween is coming up, don't be a spoilsport. I like this thread & am thankful to EdhatBarbara & 986 for the info. It's very interesting to me since I hadn't heard anything about it, and I'm from an area where a lot of places are haunted & I loved reading about it all when I was a kid.
COMMENT 330021	2012-10-10 01:01 PM
The Independent published a story a while back where several different visitors at the Baccara have called the main office after seeing a young woman jump off a balcony of one of the rooms, seemingly to her death. No body is ever found. There is a motel in Ventura where a woman was killed long ago. Visitors in that room report feeling someone laying next to them in the bed. Stories like that have to be true!
COMMENT 330036	2012-10-10 01:58 PM
Ghost hunter again,the following sites are doc. as having paranormal activity: Mission,Miss. grave-yard,jail by Miss.,Los Olivos & Garden st.,Alameda prk.gazebo,court-house,Lobero & Arlington theaters,El Presidio,old Jimmy`s garden,De la guerra plza.,Brinkerhauf st.,City college cliffs,Marmonte break-room,Clark estate,grave-yard next to Clark est.,music academy,Ortega hill,Big Yel. hse.,SB foothills & more than 50 homes in the SB & surrounding area that I`ve been asked to investigate with some actual findings. Suprisingly,there`s very LITTLE Chumash "foot-print" due to ceremonies done to help their crossing. If I had more space to write, I`d tell all I`ve seen & heard while investigating such sites, but you get the gist...
COMMENT 330052	2012-10-10 02:58 PM
Pacifica Suites is haunted. The old house that use to be there was the classic spooky house. I think it's still there, but dolled up. I remember as a kid, we would dare each other to spend a night in the house, etc. My friend's sister had her guest stay there for their wedding and a guest in one of the rooms said she heard/saw things moving and refused to sleep in there. Decided to just spend the night in the lobby.
COMMENT 330053	2012-10-10 03:02 PM
So, my wife is really into this kind of stuff and I thought it would be interesting to check out a "haunting" on our own. If we wanted to go investigate on of these places for ourself, what should I bring along? Tape recorder, video camera, etc? Any suggestions?
COMMENT 330069	2012-10-10 03:46 PM
330053 your overactive imagination!
SHOREBIRD	2012-10-10 04:07 PM
Places and things are not haunted. People haunt themselves.
COMMENT 330084	2012-10-10 04:13 PM
Super helpful thanks! Not.
COMMENT 330088	2012-10-10 04:17 PM
I worked at the Big Yellow House in the mid 1970's as a cook. The wine cellar was the creepiest place in the large mansion - none of the staff wanted to go in there alone, or linger too long. Made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
COMMENT 330093	2012-10-10 04:29 PM
.Im loving this post!...Ive never subscribed to the high-tech gadgets used on TV simply because of their difficulty of use,but a simple compass that sometimes comes w/a thermometer will alert one of a "presence" because it detects electromagnetic fields & temp changes. Take lots of pics...But like fishing...the fish are either biting or they`re not & no "bait" seems to work every time. Go respectfully,be patient,speak confidently without being confrontational. If they want to contact you,they will, but beware of someone who claims to "conjour"...start at the Mission or the El Presidio on De la Guerra..Ive had good contact there. And if you make contact,be sure to ask them to remain where they are for now & not follow you home because it happens sometmes. Ghost Hunter.
IHEARTSB	2012-10-10 04:30 PM
Love it, great informative posts!
COMMENT 330097	2012-10-10 04:34 PM
legit. ghost hunters lol
EDHATBARBARA	2012-10-10 04:41 PM
Believe it or don't. A member of the community asked for information and I assisted by providing what I knew.
COMMENT 330118	2012-10-10 05:34 PM
EdhatBarbara, I think the "lol" was directed to me,not you [Ghost Hunter] for using the word "legit",meaning a person who proceeds with the knowledge that we terrestrials don`t know it all...as opposed to those who approach the situation with unfounded authority,claiming non-existant power. Both are needed in order for there to be "balance",as well as absolute non-believers. Not everyone was born to see past their own noses...& some were born to "see" much farther...
COMMENT 330166	2012-10-10 06:53 PM
I've seen ghosts in the middle of the night in various old hotel rooms throughout the U.S. and Europe but not here. Would love to know what's hot here paranormally.
COMMENT 330177P	2012-10-10 07:10 PM
I'm sleeping with the lights on tonight!
COMMENT 330188P	2012-10-10 07:32 PM
Truly, no one will ever go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
COMMENT 330249	2012-10-11 08:15 AM
I worked at the Big Yellow House when it opened in the early 70s. Although, I never had any personal problems, our manager did. One night when he was late there alone doing the finiancials, he had a bad experience with strange sounds, rattling chains, the whole works. I don't think he ever worked alone late at night again. His hair stood on end and he took off for home. The basement was cute and made into a wine shop/ cellar; it was more like a dungeon. It felt very heavy in there. We had a handful of pyschics come through that year who confirmed that the house was haunted. They also related activity in the dungeon. All the edhaters information on Summerland is true; spiritists founded it.
LEAHKING	2012-10-11 08:25 AM
really, brinkerhoff ave in sb is supposed to be haunted as well? i have had an office there for twelve years now and have never noticed anything unusual. will have to ask my neighbors on that street who have lived there much longer if they know anything about this.. also, someone above asked if the big yellow house is still open. no, it has been closed for years, in the middle of ongoing remodels and owner changes that never seem to reach completion. it would be nice to have it operational again.
COMMENT 330268	2012-10-11 08:43 AM
I went to the Big Yellow House every Sunday with my family as a kid in the 80's. I remember feeling something was "weird" when I went to the bathroom alone. Not knowing much about spirits, I didn't think much of it let alone how to describe what I felt. Years later I read that the place was very haunted, and I flashed back to all those Sunday's. Creepy.
COMMENT 330272	2012-10-11 09:01 AM
*squee!* true or not, I love ghost stories during the month of Halloween! It's my favorite holiday. it's no wonder that I have always been afraid of the dark and hate to sleep alone or be alone in creepy old houses. I love being scared and I am a big chicken! the perfect combo hehehehe
FLICKA	2012-10-11 09:31 AM
My mom used to comment about going over Ortega Hill and the view of Summerland was nearly all white tents where the Spiritualists lived. The lots were so small (I've heard 25ft. x 25), it took 2 or 3 to build a house on. When I was little our Mt Carmel School bus went by the house (that became the Big Yellow) and the lady living there had a McCaw parrot in one big window and an extremely high backed wicker chair in the other, I was facinated by the place. In later years the poor old lady fell off the roof and had to go to a nursing home, broke her heart to leave her home.
COMMENT 330312	2012-10-11 10:06 AM
I remember hearing of satanic rituals that were performed often in Summerland. What about that?
COMMENT 330332	2012-10-11 10:28 AM
@ Leahking...yes, Brinkerhoff is visited by a man named Harry Hawcroft,aka "Lord Harry" due to his English accent & habit of always wearing a suit even though he was a black-smith. He has been seen walking the street late at night in a black suit & tails, but always as a friendly apparition. The house where he & Sam Brinkerhoff lived in at seperate times, is still having paranormal activity accordiing to some guests on my tour who lived in the back guest-house. And yes again...there were Satanic rituals performed in Summerland & SB as well.
COMMENT 330333	2012-10-11 10:29 AM
I know a few people who say they've had ghostly encounters at the big yellow house mostly in the bathroom and kitchen areas. And one of my friends mom who used to work at Pacifica suites has told me multiple stories about how things would get moved around in the rooms. I've also heard the big old house they rent out at dp ranch is haunted too and have noticed a weird vibe in that house. Apparently the ghost grabbed one of the guests leg poor girl came running out terrified.
COMMENT 330356P	2012-10-11 11:12 AM
312 I'm going to guess that rumors of satanism stem from the history of the Catholic church calling all experience of ghosts or spirits (other than saints), all attempts to contact spirits by seances or otherwise, "satanic." I can easily imagine that a bunch of "spiritualists" building a tent meeting could give rise to rumors of "satanic rituals."
HEATHER	2012-10-11 04:11 PM
Then there was St. Francis......multiple "ghostly" encounters over the years. Lots of stories went around when I worked there. Any St. Francis alums want to chime in? Now that there are homes on that lot, I wonder if the ghosts have wandered elsewhere.
COMMENT 330706	2012-10-12 12:47 PM
Bacara is haunted. There's a little Chumash girl hangs out by the pool. There are other paranormal activities as well. The girl has been sighted often.

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