by Kala Ambrose
The Star Hotel is the largest Queen Anne structure built in central North Carolina. Built in 1896, she’s quite striking, with a rounded front porch that wraps around the building. As you enter the hotel, the first thing you’ll notice is the grand staircase, which was built by the Cooper brothers. The Cooper brothers were master craftsmen who are best known for having built the grand staircase for the Titanic. The hotel is full of Victorian antiques and beautifully renovated with fireplaces and woodwork original to the hotel.
When renovating the Star Hotel, Gary wanted to honor the people who had owned and cared for it over the years, so he named the suites after each of the four owners. The suite named for Deborah Leach is the bedroom where she most often appears. Visitors report seeing her ghost appear to them in the room, as well as in other parts of the hotel. Guests share stories of seeing her in their dreams, while others see her appearing before them as she welcomes them to the hotel.
One of the suites is named for current owner Gary Spivey. He’s decorated his suite with giant healing crystals, along with beautiful antiques and works of art.
Gary continued to wonder why his spirit guides and angels were so adamant about him buying the hotel in Star and renovating the property. As he was researching the history of the hotel and the gold mining history of the area, he discovered something quite interesting. Along with the gold in the area, there is an overwhelming amount of white quartz crystal in the soil. Quartz crystal holds energy, and whatever energy is put into the crystals radiates out with strong energy. Gary then realized that the positive energy he was putting back into the hotel and on the land would be stored in the white quartz crystals, which would expand and radiate outward into the area.
Gary was then led to plant a rose garden on the property and to build a 17-feet-tall water fountain. His guides led him to pick the right location and were helpful in each step of the process. Once the fountain was in place and the garden complete, Gary felt the energy shift on the property. He was then able to see a vortex opening between the higher spiritual planes and the earth plane in this location. During this time, Gary’s guides and angels showed him that there are areas all around the world where the energy can connect between the higher spiritual planes and the earth plane. When they are opened and filled with positive energy, wonderful things can happen at these locations. Gary immediately began to feel the change in the energy on the land and was excited to see what the results would provide.
He didn’t have to wait long. Guests began reporting that while visiting the rose garden and fountain, the most wondrous things were happening to them. Many reported that while spending time in the garden, angels began to appear to them. Others reported that their deceased relatives had appeared to them in the garden to share messages of love with them. Several reported receiving spiritual gifts and blessings while in the garden.
Gary reports that the energy continues to grow and expand in the garden and that the vortex connects from the higher planes directly into the water fountain, mixing with the water. He’s beginning to understand some of the reasons that he is meant to be in North Carolina.
I couldn’t help but reflect upon this information, thinking that with Star being in the geographic center of North Carolina, should enough positive energy begin to resonate from this vortex, it could radiate and stimulate a very positive effect of energy throughout the entire state.
I shared with Gary my story of how my husband and I had decided one day that it was time for us to move from where we were living in Florida. My husband and I held hands and asked our guides to show us a sign of where to go, if it was for our highest and best purpose that we were meant to move. The next day my husband was at work when a recruiter called out of the blue and offered him a job. My husband was familiar with the company, as he had worked for this company previously in Florida. The recruiter told him that the job was not in Florida, but rather in North Carolina. He offered to fly us both up there for my husband to interview for the job and to see the area. Neither one of us had ever been to North Carolina and had never considered moving there, but we agreed to travel to North Carolina for the interview.
A ghost named Deborah is a permanent resident of the Star Hotel. The Deborah Leach suite is named after her and she is often seen in the suite and around the hotel. (Photo by Gary Spivey)
We were in a hotel in Research Triangle Park, and to be honest, I was having a difficult time with the energy in the area. It felt closed, tight, and a little dark. Where I was living in Florida was on the Gulf of Mexico with a lot of peaceful spiritual energy floating around. We sat in the hotel talking before it was time for his interview, and we decided that this wasn’t the place for us to move. We wondered how to get out of the situation.
Like Gary, I’m a psychic, and I’ve always relied on assistance from my guides to show me what to do; also like Gary, I argue with them from time to time when they suggest things that don’t make sense to me. I knew they were responsible for getting us here to this interview, but I couldn’t understand why they would want us to move here. So I suggested to my husband that we ask that the company double his salary and agree to pay for our move to North Carolina, including shipping our vehicles and offering some assistance in purchasing a house in the area. We talked it over, and I thought this way my husband could do his best in the interview as he always does, but the terms would just be too high, so they would decline to offer him the job. He went to the interview, came back to the hotel, and we returned home, thinking it was over and wondering what in the world our guides had been thinking.
Forty-eight hours later, the recruiter called with the news that the company was offering my husband the job and had agreed to all of our terms. A moving company was on its way to pack up our house and move us to North Carolina. To say we were shocked would be an understatement. It was then that we both realized that our guides had a definitive reason and purpose for us to move to North Carolina, and while we were unsure of the reason why, we couldn’t argue with the fact that it appeared to be our destiny.
Sharing this story with Gary, I explained that I believe North Carolina is going to be a very important place in holding positive energy for this part of the world as we go through our next evolution on a body, mind, spirit, and planetary level. I believe that North Carolina is evolving into a light center for the United States. I see the symbolism with the lighthouses all along the North Carolina coast, shining brightly. They remind me of the great lighthouse in Alexandria, Egypt, where the world’s greatest library once existed. On the other end of the state lie the mystical Blue Ridge Mountains, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, and with vortices in the area spinning with so much energy in cities like Asheville that the area has been nicknamed the Sedona of the South, in reference to the vortices and spiritual energy in Sedona, Arizona.
I believe that Gary Spivey has returned here to stimulate this energy in Star, North Carolina. As the energy is raised in the geographical center of the state, it will radiate outward throughout the state. Gary has strengthened his commitment to Star, recently purchasing other buildings along Main Street in the town and renovating them. The new tenants include artists, musicians, and shop owners. Star is becoming reborn, metamorphosing into a hip little town with an artistic vibe and great live music.
Inside the Star Hotel, the energy is warm and inviting. As a person who sees auras, I can see the energy not just around people but also around buildings, plants, and animals. While tapping into the energy around the fountain, I could see symbols in the energy coming from around the water. Some of these symbols I recognize from ancient teachings, and there is a very powerful energy around the area. People report feeling their body heating up and their energy levels rising while in the garden. Gary has begun offering spiritual workshops at the hotel, and they have been very well received. The hotel is vibrating with positive energy, and I believe that the town is in the process of evolving into a spiritual center that will grow in magnitude over the years.
> When visiting the Star Hotel, keep your eye out for Deborah Leach, who will enjoy welcoming you. But even more importantly, relax, take a deep breath, and spend some time in the garden with the fountain, where you just might have a deeply personal spiritual experience, such as a meeting with a loved one from the other side or one of your angels or guides. You may also wish to bring a piece of quartz crystal with you so that you can store the energy of your time spent in the garden and have it with you always.
Devil’s Tramping Ground, Chatham County
For the past 300 years, residents and visitors to Chatham County have discussed the anomaly known in the area as the Devil’s Tramping Ground. Located about ten miles west of Siler City in the woods, the tramping ground is a circle measuring 40 feet in diameter in which nothing ever grows. Trees and a wide variety of vegetation surround the area, but the circle itself remains clear and empty. Nothing ever grows inside the Devil’s Tramping Ground.
Local legend says that the ground looks this way because the devil uses this plot of land to pace in a circle, walking round and round as he plans new ways to spread more evil on earth. If the design was more elaborate perhaps it would have been called the Devil’s Labyrinth, but in this case, it remains in its original circle form.
Interestingly, during my research in North Carolina, I found that many areas across the state are named for the devil. Duke University in Durham has the Blue Devils for their school mascot, and a city along the coast of North Carolina is named Kill Devil Hills. In Cary, North Carolina, Cary High School was the first public high school built in North Carolina in 1896. Their school mascot is the Imps. Imps are small, mischievous demons from German folklore. They are known to be wild and uncontrollable and fond of pranks and misleading people. Imps can be contained or bound in enchanted objects. What a fascinating name to give to a high school mascot.
Could it be that some sinister being has been roaming the state of North Carolina for centuries, and does he do his daily planning in the Devil’s Tramping Ground?
There are hundreds of stories about people who have been to the Devil’s Tramping Ground and attempted to camp there overnight. They report waking up to find themselves and all of their gear removed from the circle. Others report tossing rocks, branches, bottles, and other items into the circle, only to find them removed from the circle a short while later.
Not everyone believes that the anomaly is connected to the devil. In the 1700s, settlers in the area believed that it was a sacred area belonging to the Native American tribes that used to live there. The tribes reportedly held ceremonies and rituals in the area, and it is said that the land stills holds the magic and energy created there by the tribe.
Several scientific groups have conducted testing on the soil in the circle, and it contains a high level of salt and acidity. None of the studies or theories have explained why the soil would contain these items in such elevated levels. Even more peculiar, the soil outside of the circle tests as normal. There is also no explanation as to why the area remains a perfect circle, empty of all vegetation to this day.
CHAPTER 12
Visit with the Guardian of Korner’s Folly
KERNERSVILLE
Referred to as one of the strangest houses in the world, Korner’s Folly was designed by Jule Korner, an interior designer who used each room to showcase his work.
“If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.”
—H. L. Mencken
LOCATED IN THE PEACEFUL LANDSCAPE of the Piedmont area of North Carolina lies the town of Kernersville in the area known as the Triad. The Triad area consists of three major cities, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. Kernersville is a beautiful small town that is actively restoring and renovating its historic downtown area. I enjoyed my time there, exploring the historic area and seeing beautiful homes lovingly cared for, such as the Harmon House.
The locals invited me to return in the spring to enjoy their largest citywide event, called Spring Folly, a live music event. In the spring, the town also hosts a Victorian Ball, which guests attend in traditional Victorian period attire, including ball gowns, tuxedos, and military uniforms from the era. Both of these events have a connection to one of the most interesting architectural achievements in Kernersville. It may also be one of the strangest homes in the world, built in 1880. It’s called Korner’s Folly, and if I had to compare it to other strange homes, I would say that it is a miniature version of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. It also shares another similarity with the Winchester House, as they’re both reported to be haunted.
The original owner of Korner’s Folly was Jule Gilmer Korner. He named the home Korner’s Folly when a cousin, or possibly a neighbor, declared the home to be just that. Korner was so amused by the comment that he made it the official name of the home, even going so far as to hang a plaque with that name outside the house. Korner was a painter and interior designer and is best known for painting signs for the Bull Durham Bulls across the South.
Unlike the Winchester Mystery Mansion, Korner’s Folly was deliberately designed with style in mind. At the Winchester House, Sarah Winchester, upon the advice of a psychic, had carpenters build new rooms in her house 24 hours a day until her death. Sarah Winchester was the heir to the Winchester rifle fortune, and the psychic had told her that she and her family were haunted by angry spirits that had been killed by Winchester rifles and wanted to punish the family. This ongoing construction was supposed to confuse and trick the angry spirits and keep them from locating Sarah Winchester in her home and haunting her. Inside the home, doors open to several-story drops below, and staircases lead to the ceiling, going nowhere. The entire house winds around like a maze, and by the time you’ve walked through it, you’ve walked more than a mile. The effect is eerie, confusing, and at times maddening. While Korner’s Folly also has a variety of unique rooms and twists and turns, the effect feels very different; it’s charming, and each room pulls you into an experience for the senses.
Korner created Korner’s Folly for an entirely different reason, and ghosts were the furthest things from his mind. A talented artist, Korner wanted the house to be a showplace for his work, both artistically in size and scale, in order to give prospective clients an idea of the various types of interior design that he could create in their homes and buildings. The house has 22 rooms, and there’s no easy way to describe them. Each room is unique; some are fit for royalty, palatial in scale. There are trap doors, more than 15 different styles of fireplaces, cubbyholes to tuck away in, murals, and a library.
I love Korner’s Folly. It reminds me of playing dress up when I was young; how one day I wanted to be a princess, another day the queen, and I’d rotate from the Victorian age, to the Roaring Twenties, to holding court in the Middle Ages. Living in Korner’s Folly would have been like living in a dollhouse to play every dress-up game I could imagine. How much fun the children must have had growing up here! While I was immediately entranced by the whimsical parts of the home, I must also say that it has elegant touches: murals, a striking reception room, and a wonderful little theater named Cupid’s Park. Korner’s Folly grabbed me at the front door; it’s simply enchanting.
It should be no surprise that the home is on the National Register of Historic Places. During my travels in North Carolina, I’ve come across quite a few haunted homes that are on the national registry. This has prompted me to create a new list that I’ll soon be putting on my website that I’m going to call the National Register of Haunted Places.
Even the exterior of Korner’s Folly grabs my attention instantly. It looks like no other home I have seen throughout all of North Carolina. If I had to place the home in an area where it would fit in with other architectural styles, I might say that it would look best as a cottage on the Biltmore estate in Asheville.
None of the 22 rooms look the same in any way. There are three floors and seven
levels to the home, some with ceilings as low as six feet while other ceilings reach heights of more than 25 feet. Hallways have different sizes; some are quite narrow, and the effect can be striking as you follow a passageway into a new room, some with doorways over ten feet tall. Extensively detailed woodwork is displayed in every room. A winding staircase takes you from floor to floor, and on the fourth floor is the first private children’s little theater in the United States. The effect of it all is stunning. Jule Korner was definitely talented and had a wonderful artistic eye. The architecture and antique furniture that he designed are visible throughout the home. Korner was also an artist, and his paintings are on display.
Legend says that Korner did not originally plan to live in the home full time; he built it to display his substantial skills as an artist and designer and intended to use it as his office. During this time, he fell in love with and married Polly Alice Masten. His wife loved the home, and they decided to live in it full time. Over the years, Korner continued to design parts of the home, including creating a unique air distribution system that seems to operate from a series of openings covered with grates in the floors of the home. When the grates are opened, cool air flows from beneath the house and circulates through the rooms through a unique set of windows that pivot according to the airflow.
Whimsical touches are all around Korner’s Folly, including this adorable Witch’s Corner.
I spoke with Bruce Frankel, the director of Korner’s Folly, to find out more about how Korner had designed and constructed the home and to discuss the haunted activity there. For several years now, Bruce has allowed paranormal investigators to conduct research in the house. Each time a team investigates Korner’s Folly, researchers and witnesses report paranormal activity in the home. Some of the best evidence recorded, according to Frankel, was by an area group affiliated with The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) that conducted an investigation in 2009. During this investigation, they recorded EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) in which a little girl is heard talking and playing in the home, saying things such as “peekaboo.” Video recorders also captured a light source floating in the air, which followed people on the video as they walked from room to room.
