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Haunted America
Haunted Summerwind: A Ghostly History of a Wisconsin Mansion
The true story of the Lamont Mansion, which was meant to host a president--but instead become a home to the paranormal . . . includes photos!
Buried deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods, the ruined splendor of the mansion known as Summerwind bares the bones of its legendary past. Robert Patterson Lamont purchased the property in 1916 as a country retreat where he could entertain such guests as President Warren G. Harding. Unfortunately, the house played host to visitors of an entirely different sort, and Lamont reportedly fled the property after discharging a pistol at a ghoul in the basement pantry.
Raymond Bober abandoned his attempt to convert the house into a hotel in the 1970s, describing rooms that changed size and the mysterious presence of an eighteenth-century explorer in his famous book The Carver Effect. Join Devon Bell for a glimpse through the shattered windows of the most specter-laden spot in the Badger State.
Buried deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods, the ruined splendor of the mansion known as Summerwind bares the bones of its legendary past. Robert Patterson Lamont purchased the property in 1916 as a country retreat where he could entertain such guests as President Warren G. Harding. Unfortunately, the house played host to visitors of an entirely different sort, and Lamont reportedly fled the property after discharging a pistol at a ghoul in the basement pantry.
Raymond Bober abandoned his attempt to convert the house into a hotel in the 1970s, describing rooms that changed size and the mysterious presence of an eighteenth-century explorer in his famous book The Carver Effect. Join Devon Bell for a glimpse through the shattered windows of the most specter-laden spot in the Badger State.
- GenresHorrorParanormal
115 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2016
46 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 13, 2023
Good read
This was super interesting. IMO they just need to leave the house alone and stop trying to mess with it and the ruins. NOPE. Lol I'd want nothing to do with it.
This was super interesting. IMO they just need to leave the house alone and stop trying to mess with it and the ruins. NOPE. Lol I'd want nothing to do with it.
February 6, 2021
This was a fast, easy read. It's a nonfiction book about a haunted house in my state (Wisconsin) which is why I read it. I admit I was curious! I also had never heard of this house before, probably because it's way on the other side of the state. It's actual location is a secret of sorts, but it's in Land O Lakes which is at the top of the state.
So the writing in here pulled me in right away and it pretty much tells you a bunch of weird but fascinating stuff about the house...or what's left of it. There's also numerous black and white photos too. The house had burned down in the 1980s, probably due to lightning, but there's still a few chimneys standing. I do find it kind of bizarre how those tall chimneys can remain standing on their own. Why don't they fall over? What's holding them up?
One thing that was the most interesting in my opinion was how people who had visited the site and had taken home a souvenir later had bad luck. In many cases the souvenirs had been stuff like an old brick. I think the reason why lots of people find ghost stories so fascinating is because we don't understand it and we can't explain it either. Some people say they had encountered a ghost that might be Jonathan Carver who was a British explorer and others have said they were saved from death by a lady in white. There's lots of other tales in here too. The book gives you an idea of the house's past in chronological order.
The book is well researched and includes a bibliography. Plus it has the original blueprints of the house too.
To me the photos of the house look just like a house. I really don't see anything creepy. But the stories about the house in these pages are fascinating! Are they true? I don't know. I do know they are very entertaining.
So the writing in here pulled me in right away and it pretty much tells you a bunch of weird but fascinating stuff about the house...or what's left of it. There's also numerous black and white photos too. The house had burned down in the 1980s, probably due to lightning, but there's still a few chimneys standing. I do find it kind of bizarre how those tall chimneys can remain standing on their own. Why don't they fall over? What's holding them up?
One thing that was the most interesting in my opinion was how people who had visited the site and had taken home a souvenir later had bad luck. In many cases the souvenirs had been stuff like an old brick. I think the reason why lots of people find ghost stories so fascinating is because we don't understand it and we can't explain it either. Some people say they had encountered a ghost that might be Jonathan Carver who was a British explorer and others have said they were saved from death by a lady in white. There's lots of other tales in here too. The book gives you an idea of the house's past in chronological order.
The book is well researched and includes a bibliography. Plus it has the original blueprints of the house too.
To me the photos of the house look just like a house. I really don't see anything creepy. But the stories about the house in these pages are fascinating! Are they true? I don't know. I do know they are very entertaining.
October 24, 2016
It was an okay true paranormal read, but like it says in its title "history", that about sizes it up. Short and sweet history lesson of a haunted house in Wisconsin. Most of what was in the book had already been told on the television show "A Haunting", which I had seen when it had aired. So, I didn't really learn anything new from the book. Only giving it 3 stars - there is no scare factor in this book and I was able to read it in one sitting.
April 8, 2025
Since I became aware of the rise of the ghost hunting shows in the 2000s, I'd heard much about Summerwind, so I was hoping for a bit more actual research and detail.
This book was more like I imagine podcasts or blogs are. Not like the history book I was hoping it would be. It was somewhat disorganized, jumped around in time a bit and left me with more questions about the building and property than I had before.
Since I became aware of the rise of the ghost hunting shows in the 2000s, I'd heard much about Summerwind, so I was hoping for a bit more actual research and detail.
This book was more like I imagine podcasts or blogs are. Not like the history book I was hoping it would be. It was somewhat disorganized, jumped around in time a bit and left me with more questions about the building and property than I had before.
For instance, Bell states that after Lamont fled the house after a frightening event in the 1930s (we're not given a date or year), he refused to return to the property or sell the property. Apparently, after his death in 1948, the family (wife or his 3 children) sold the house to someone named Keefer. She says that the mansion stood vacant until 1948. Yet, just a few pages prior she talked of seeing a poster at the Land O' Lakes Historical Society, and speaking with an unnamed individual who states that 'In the 1930s, the Lamont estate became a resort called Prairie Moon Lodge . . . a man named Keefer ran the resort, as well as a series of nearby cabins.' She states that 'It's very interesting that the mansion was being advertised and seemed to be one of the more popular rentals back in its prime.' Well, which is it? Was the mansion abandoned for 8-18 years? Did Keefer actually buy the property in the 1930s and turn it into a popular lodge?
I'm guessing that a trip to the county offices to review property records would have cleared this up quickly.
Bell also spends a section discussing a legend of a Southern woman named Lucy from the 'Whitehall Plantation' near Atlanta was essentially sold to Lamont to become his mistress, then forced to the marry the man's son, also named Robert, only to be held prisoner in the mansion on the shore of West Bay Lake in Wisconsin. She gave us a short bio of Robert Patterson Lamont (the elder) and we were told he wed a Helen Trotter in 1894. We are also told that Robert Patterson Lamont II had 2 daughters and lived in Thiensville, Wisconsin at the time of his father's death. Was his wife even named 'Lucy'? We are not told.
I guess I was tricked by the subtitle. Had I had gone into this book thinking it folklore and not 'history' I would not have been as disappointed. It basically is just a regurgitation of stories and tales, and then some good old ghost-story tropes all tossed into a confusing and contradictory hash of conflicting data and hearsay.
A bit of apparently old-timey journalism could have solved these issues. Sadly, this seems to be the world now--just throw all the un-verified stories on the wall and call it history.
I've fished the Cisco chain of lakes, and my family stayed at a resort on Thousand Island Lake (part of the Cisco chain) in 2005 and I never knew this existed. We were told about the famous 'Paulding Light' just a couple dozen miles north of the Summerwind ruins, and went up there to see if we could see it. I'd certainly have wanted to venture to these ruins had I known.
My belief is that this is all a bunch of hooey. What do the actual locals think? There are large homes on either side of that property now--you can see them and the ruins on GoogleMaps.
Then again, why haven't the ruins been cleared and another even grander mansion been built on the prime lakefront property? There are multi-million dollar mansions on many of the lakes in that area. They make Summerwind look tiny in this era of the super-wealthy owning much of the lakefront property.
Maybe these questions are the seeds for another book?
This book was more like I imagine podcasts or blogs are. Not like the history book I was hoping it would be. It was somewhat disorganized, jumped around in time a bit and left me with more questions about the building and property than I had before.
Since I became aware of the rise of the ghost hunting shows in the 2000s, I'd heard much about Summerwind, so I was hoping for a bit more actual research and detail.
This book was more like I imagine podcasts or blogs are. Not like the history book I was hoping it would be. It was somewhat disorganized, jumped around in time a bit and left me with more questions about the building and property than I had before.
For instance, Bell states that after Lamont fled the house after a frightening event in the 1930s (we're not given a date or year), he refused to return to the property or sell the property. Apparently, after his death in 1948, the family (wife or his 3 children) sold the house to someone named Keefer. She says that the mansion stood vacant until 1948. Yet, just a few pages prior she talked of seeing a poster at the Land O' Lakes Historical Society, and speaking with an unnamed individual who states that 'In the 1930s, the Lamont estate became a resort called Prairie Moon Lodge . . . a man named Keefer ran the resort, as well as a series of nearby cabins.' She states that 'It's very interesting that the mansion was being advertised and seemed to be one of the more popular rentals back in its prime.' Well, which is it? Was the mansion abandoned for 8-18 years? Did Keefer actually buy the property in the 1930s and turn it into a popular lodge?
I'm guessing that a trip to the county offices to review property records would have cleared this up quickly.
Bell also spends a section discussing a legend of a Southern woman named Lucy from the 'Whitehall Plantation' near Atlanta was essentially sold to Lamont to become his mistress, then forced to the marry the man's son, also named Robert, only to be held prisoner in the mansion on the shore of West Bay Lake in Wisconsin. She gave us a short bio of Robert Patterson Lamont (the elder) and we were told he wed a Helen Trotter in 1894. We are also told that Robert Patterson Lamont II had 2 daughters and lived in Thiensville, Wisconsin at the time of his father's death. Was his wife even named 'Lucy'? We are not told.
I guess I was tricked by the subtitle. Had I had gone into this book thinking it folklore and not 'history' I would not have been as disappointed. It basically is just a regurgitation of stories and tales, and then some good old ghost-story tropes all tossed into a confusing and contradictory hash of conflicting data and hearsay.
A bit of apparently old-timey journalism could have solved these issues. Sadly, this seems to be the world now--just throw all the un-verified stories on the wall and call it history.
I've fished the Cisco chain of lakes, and my family stayed at a resort on Thousand Island Lake (part of the Cisco chain) in 2005 and I never knew this existed. We were told about the famous 'Paulding Light' just a couple dozen miles north of the Summerwind ruins, and went up there to see if we could see it. I'd certainly have wanted to venture to these ruins had I known.
My belief is that this is all a bunch of hooey. What do the actual locals think? There are large homes on either side of that property now--you can see them and the ruins on GoogleMaps.
Then again, why haven't the ruins been cleared and another even grander mansion been built on the prime lakefront property? There are multi-million dollar mansions on many of the lakes in that area. They make Summerwind look tiny in this era of the super-wealthy owning much of the lakefront property.
Maybe these questions are the seeds for another book?
April 7, 2025
Since I became aware of the rise of the ghost hunting shows in the 2000s, I'd heard much about Summerwind, so I was hoping for a bit more actual research and detail.
This book was more like I imagine podcasts or blogs are. Not like the history book I was hoping it would be. It was somewhat disorganized, jumped around in time a bit and left me with more questions about the building and property than I had before.
For instance, Bell states that after Lamont fled the house after a frightening event in the 1930s (we're not given a date or year), he refused to return to the property or sell the property. Apparently, after his death in 1948, the family (wife or his 3 children) sold the house to someone named Keefer. She says that the mansion stood vacant until 1948. Yet, just a few pages prior she talked of seeing a poster at the Land O' Lakes Historical Society, and speaking with an unnamed individual who states that 'In the 1930s, the Lamont estate became a resort called Prairie Moon Lodge . . . a man named Keefer ran the resort, as well as a series of nearby cabins.' She states that 'It's very interesting that the mansion was being advertised and seemed to be one of the more popular rentals back in its prime.' Well, which is it? Was the mansion abandoned for 8-18 years? Did Keefer actually buy the property in the 1930s and turn it into a popular lodge?
I'm guessing that a trip to the county offices to review property records would have cleared this up quickly.
Bell also spends a section discussing a legend of a Southern woman named Lucy from the 'Whitehall Plantation' near Atlanta was essentially sold to Lamont to become his mistress, then forced to the marry the man's son, also named Robert, only to be held prisoner in the mansion on the shore of West Bay Lake in Wisconsin. She gave us a short bio of Robert Patterson Lamont (the elder) and we were told he wed a Helen Trotter in 1894. We are also told that Robert Patterson Lamont II had 2 daughters and lived in Thiensville, Wisconsin at the time of his father's death. Was his wife even named 'Lucy'? We are not told.
I guess I was tricked by the subtitle. Had I had gone into this book thinking it folklore and not 'history' I would not have been as disappointed. It basically is just a regurgitation of stories and tales, and then some good old ghost-story tropes all tossed into a confusing and contradictory hash of conflicting data and hearsay.
A bit of apparently old-timey journalism could have solved these issues. Sadly, this seems to be the world now--just throw all the un-verified stories on the wall and call it history.
I've fished the Cisco chain of lakes, and my family stayed at a resort on Thousand Island Lake (part of the Cisco chain) in 2005 and I never knew this existed. We were told about the famous 'Paulding Light' just a couple dozen miles north of the Summerwind ruins, and went up there to see if we could see it. I'd certainly have wanted to venture to these ruins had I known.
My belief is that this is all a bunch of hooey. What do the actual locals think? There are large homes on either side of that property now--you can see them and the ruins on GoogleMaps.
Then again, why haven't the ruins been cleared and another even grander mansion been built on the prime lakefront property? There are multi-million dollar mansions on many of the lakes in that area. They make Summerwind look tiny in this era of the super-wealthy owning much of the lakefront property.
Maybe these questions are the seeds for another book?
This book was more like I imagine podcasts or blogs are. Not like the history book I was hoping it would be. It was somewhat disorganized, jumped around in time a bit and left me with more questions about the building and property than I had before.
For instance, Bell states that after Lamont fled the house after a frightening event in the 1930s (we're not given a date or year), he refused to return to the property or sell the property. Apparently, after his death in 1948, the family (wife or his 3 children) sold the house to someone named Keefer. She says that the mansion stood vacant until 1948. Yet, just a few pages prior she talked of seeing a poster at the Land O' Lakes Historical Society, and speaking with an unnamed individual who states that 'In the 1930s, the Lamont estate became a resort called Prairie Moon Lodge . . . a man named Keefer ran the resort, as well as a series of nearby cabins.' She states that 'It's very interesting that the mansion was being advertised and seemed to be one of the more popular rentals back in its prime.' Well, which is it? Was the mansion abandoned for 8-18 years? Did Keefer actually buy the property in the 1930s and turn it into a popular lodge?
I'm guessing that a trip to the county offices to review property records would have cleared this up quickly.
Bell also spends a section discussing a legend of a Southern woman named Lucy from the 'Whitehall Plantation' near Atlanta was essentially sold to Lamont to become his mistress, then forced to the marry the man's son, also named Robert, only to be held prisoner in the mansion on the shore of West Bay Lake in Wisconsin. She gave us a short bio of Robert Patterson Lamont (the elder) and we were told he wed a Helen Trotter in 1894. We are also told that Robert Patterson Lamont II had 2 daughters and lived in Thiensville, Wisconsin at the time of his father's death. Was his wife even named 'Lucy'? We are not told.
I guess I was tricked by the subtitle. Had I had gone into this book thinking it folklore and not 'history' I would not have been as disappointed. It basically is just a regurgitation of stories and tales, and then some good old ghost-story tropes all tossed into a confusing and contradictory hash of conflicting data and hearsay.
A bit of apparently old-timey journalism could have solved these issues. Sadly, this seems to be the world now--just throw all the un-verified stories on the wall and call it history.
I've fished the Cisco chain of lakes, and my family stayed at a resort on Thousand Island Lake (part of the Cisco chain) in 2005 and I never knew this existed. We were told about the famous 'Paulding Light' just a couple dozen miles north of the Summerwind ruins, and went up there to see if we could see it. I'd certainly have wanted to venture to these ruins had I known.
My belief is that this is all a bunch of hooey. What do the actual locals think? There are large homes on either side of that property now--you can see them and the ruins on GoogleMaps.
Then again, why haven't the ruins been cleared and another even grander mansion been built on the prime lakefront property? There are multi-million dollar mansions on many of the lakes in that area. They make Summerwind look tiny in this era of the super-wealthy owning much of the lakefront property.
Maybe these questions are the seeds for another book?
June 4, 2019
The story of Summerwind, more properly known as the Lamont Mansion, has been told many places including Discovery Channel's A Haunting, in a few anthologies such as " Haunted Heartland" and "Haunted Wisconsin", websites and on. There is not much new added to the story, but appreciated the authors willingness to consider the facts and Express the possibility that the often told stories might be untrue while leaving herself open the the ruins still being haunted. The inclusion of photos of the house circa 2925 plus 1980s photos taken while the house was in disrepair and 2010 photos taken after the fire are a nice touch and add to the history included in the book.
February 24, 2024
This was a DNF for me after 42 pages. I was looking forward to the story of Summerwind by Devon Bell because I love reading about the rich lifestyle from the early 1900's. However, I read enough of this book to know that it was time to move on and read something I'd enjoy. The book was pretty much Ms. Bell giving a synopsis of what other author's books about Summerwind had to say, or telling us what google searches she found. The book was also full of suppositions of what "might" have happened. I gave the book 2 stars instead of 1 because I learned some things from this book, even though it seemed to be mainly due to someone else's work.
July 9, 2022
I've read a lot of other books about Summerwind and this one was only ok. This is the most recently published of the books I've read, and it was nice to see all the stories and lore compiled together in one place. The author goes off on a lot of tangents and repeats some information multiple times. I was left wanting a lot more details in many places. This book is a great introduction if you've never heard of Summerwind, but I prefer Tom Hollatz's 2010 book Haunted Northwoods for a more detailed and thorough explanation of the Summerwind story.
March 7, 2021
Even though I pretty much knew just about anything I could about Summerwind Mansion, it was a fun read. There were pictures of the mansion when it was still standing that I hadn't seen before. There's something hauntingly beautiful about it. So terrifying, yet I kind of want to be there, which is pretty worrying. Anyway, I enjoyed the book.
May 25, 2020
As someone who loves ghost stories this book was very good. I liked how the author told about the history of the property and the history of the hauntings. I'm going to look into seeing what else the author has written. 5 stars boo!
January 6, 2024
Was it lightning or hell fire that took Summerwind?
Fascinating book. I am sorry that fire took the house. It would have been interesting to actually spend the night there.
Devon Bell has made me interested in finding out more.
Fascinating book. I am sorry that fire took the house. It would have been interesting to actually spend the night there.
Devon Bell has made me interested in finding out more.
November 30, 2019
Good book all fact about a haunting house here in WI!!
January 16, 2024
Excellent! Loved it. Very informative and doesn't really sway your opinion of what you personally think or believe. It keeps me still wondering.
January 8, 2017
An informative book about the history of Summerwind. Especially enjoyed the pictures of this once stately northern mansion. Whether it is haunted or not depends on what one has experienced at Summerwind.
April 29, 2017
It's true this book is mainly a history of Summerwind, however history is very important when dealing with hauntings. This is precisely the sort of information an investigator of haunting wants to know and in that regard I found this book valuable. Devon made an attempt to get information from even before the actual building existed. All of this helps to better understand the phenomenon occurring at Summerwind. I am just as fascinated by this place as many of the people Devon interviews. I only wish that previous inhabitants could tell us even more. I understand why they don't having had paranormal experience all my life but it is so helpful for us all to hear these stories.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews