The Ghosts of the Haunted Schafer House

After Blackwood's death, the house passed through several owners before being purchased by Frederick Schafer in 1834. Schafer was a German immigrant who had made his fortune in the textile trade, and he saw the Alexandria property as the perfect place to raise his growing family.

Frederick and his wife Helena had seven children, though only four survived to adulthood. The house that Blackwood had built as a monument to success became, for the Schafers, a place of repeated heartbreak. Three children died within these walls - two from scarlet fever during the epidemic of 1847, and one from a fall down the main staircase in 1851.

Helena Schafer never recovered from the loss of her children. She became increasingly withdrawn, spending hours in the nursery speaking to children who were no longer there. Servants reported hearing her singing lullabies late at night, her voice drifting through the empty halls. When Helena died in 1858, those same servants swore they could still hear her singing.

When Union forces occupied Alexandria in 1861, the Schafer House was commandeered as officers' quarters. Frederick Schafer, now elderly and broken by years of loss, was forced to watch as soldiers tramped through his home, using his parlor as a command post and his dining room as a mess hall.

During the occupation, at least one Confederate sympathizer was executed in the backyard of the Schafer House - a young man accused of spying for the Southern cause. His name has been lost to history, but witnesses reported that he died proclaiming his innocence, cursing the house and all who dwelt within it.

Frederick Schafer died in 1864, still technically the owner of a house that had been taken from him. His surviving children sold the property as soon as the war ended, wanting nothing more to do with a place that held so many painful memories.

The most frequently encountered spirit in the Schafer House is that of Helena Schafer herself. Residents and visitors have reported seeing a woman in Victorian mourning dress - black from head to toe, with a veil covering her face - standing in the doorway of what was once the nursery.

Ghost City Tours staff spoke with a woman who lived in the house during the 1990s. 'I woke up one night to the sound of singing,' she told us. 'It was a lullaby, in German I think, coming from the room we used as a guest bedroom. I thought maybe I'd left a radio on. When I opened the door, I saw her - a woman in black, sitting in the rocking chair we kept by the window. She was holding something in her arms, cradling it like a baby, but there was nothing there. She looked up at me, and even through the veil, I could feel her grief. Then she was just... gone.'

Other residents have reported the sensation of being tucked in at night, feeling invisible hands adjust their blankets with maternal care. Children who have lived in the house sometimes speak of 'the sad lady' who visits them while they sleep.

The main staircase of the Schafer House is the site of intense paranormal activity. It was here that one of the Schafer children fell to his death, and it was on these stairs that Cornelius Blackwood is said to have been found after taking his own life.

Multiple witnesses have reported seeing a man standing at the top of the stairs, looking down with an expression of profound despair. He appears solid and real for several seconds before vanishing. Others have felt unseen hands push them as they ascend or descend the staircase - sometimes gently, as if in warning, and sometimes with enough force to nearly cause a fall.

A contractor who worked on renovations in the 1980s told Ghost City Tours about his experience. 'I was carrying materials up to the second floor when I felt someone shove me from behind. Hard. I grabbed the railing and managed not to fall, but when I turned around, there was nobody there. I finished that job as fast as I could and never went back.'

The backyard of the Schafer House, where the Confederate spy was executed, is another hotspot for paranormal activity. Neighbors have reported seeing a young man in ragged clothing standing among the trees late at night, his hands bound behind his back. He appears to be speaking - perhaps still proclaiming his innocence - but no sound emerges.

A current neighbor, who asked that her name not be used, shared her experience with Ghost City Tours. 'I was having trouble sleeping one summer night, so I went to sit on my back porch. I looked over at the Schafer House yard, and I saw him. A young man, couldn't have been more than twenty, standing there with his hands tied. He was looking right at me. I blinked, and he was gone. I've lived here for thirty years, and I've seen him three more times since then. Always the same - bound hands, looking right at you, like he's trying to tell you something.'

Perhaps most disturbing are the sounds of children that echo through the Schafer House. Residents have reported hearing laughter, crying, and the sound of small feet running through the halls - always when no children are present.

One former resident described waking to the sound of a child crying inconsolably somewhere in the house. She and her husband searched every room but found nothing. The crying continued for over an hour before falling silent. 'It wasn't scary exactly,' she said. 'It was heartbreaking. You could hear such grief in that crying, such loneliness. We moved out three months later. I couldn't bear to hear it anymore.'

Others have reported toys moving on their own, doors to children's rooms opening and closing, and the sensation of small hands tugging at clothing or hair. The three Schafer children who died in this house seem determined to make their presence known.

Modern residents have reported persistent electrical problems that no contractor can explain or fix. Lights flicker in patterns that seem almost deliberate - three flashes, then silence, then three more. Electronics turn on and off by themselves. One family reported that their television would switch to static at exactly 3:17 AM every night - the time, according to local legend, when the Confederate spy was executed.

Electricians who have examined the house find nothing wrong with the wiring. 'The system is actually in excellent condition,' one told Ghost City Tours. 'There's no technical reason for these problems. I've been doing this for thirty years, and I've never seen anything like it.'

Cold spots are common in the Schafer House, appearing suddenly in rooms that were comfortable moments before. The nursery, in particular, is known for dramatic temperature drops - sometimes as much as twenty degrees in a matter of seconds.

A paranormal investigation team that visited the house in 2019 documented temperature readings that defied explanation. 'We recorded a spot in the nursery that was forty-two degrees when the rest of the room was seventy-one,' the lead investigator reported. 'That kind of differential doesn't happen naturally. Something was drawing energy from that space.'

Some encounters at the Schafer House go beyond sights and sounds. Residents have reported being touched, grabbed, and even scratched by unseen entities. Objects fly across rooms. Doors slam with tremendous force when no one is near them.

The most dramatic recent incident occurred in 2021, when a family hosting a dinner party witnessed a heavy candlestick rise from the dining room table and hurl itself against the wall. All six guests saw it happen. The family moved out within the month.

'Something in that house doesn't want people there,' the homeowner told Ghost City Tours. 'Or maybe it wants them there too much. Either way, we weren't staying to find out.'