The Kellogg House

What began as a missed adventure has turned into quite the stir.

The interior of the house has several unusual features that reflect Kellogg’s keen interest in ships. Most prominent is the mast, salvaged from a ship in San Francisco, that stretches from floor to ceiling in the center of the house.

Scrolling through the events section on Facebook, I happened upon an invitation to visit the Heritage Museum of Orange County for a vintage marketplace called ‘Behind the Picket Fence’.

The marketplace boasted over 75 amazing vendors selling everything from vintage, rustic decor, up-cycled, repurposed, farm-style decor, wrought iron, and handmade items of yesteryear. The show was to be held outdoors throughout the beautiful grounds of The Heritage Museum of Orange County. Given the state of affairs and all events of late, I had called, left messages, and sent an email to see if the event was still happening ~ all met with silence and no reply. I decided to take the drive and venture out anyway.

I had never been to the museum and was actually looking forward to strolling through the citrus groves, rose gardens, nature walk, and tour the historic Kellogg House. Hiram Clay Kellogg designed the three-story-high circular staircase that is the centerpiece of the elegant Kellogg House that reflects many of the design elements and carvings from ships that sailed the seas in 1898. It was termed one of the finest Neo-classical Victorian homes in Orange County.

Unfortunately, there was no event. All the tall black iron gates were closed and padlocked with not a single car in sight. In order not to forget to put this on my bucket list of places to visit once everything is open again – I stuck my phone between the cast-iron fence posts and took photos as best I could.

When I downloaded the photos from my phone onto my computer – something caught my eye. The curtain in one of the second-floor windows looked as if it had been pulled back ever so slightly. I copied the photo and enlarged it. Not surprising, I did see the curtain slightly pulled back with what looks to be a face peering from behind.

In 1921, Hiram died in the home, but Helen lived another 42 years before she died in the very same home. Presently, certain unexplained phenomena indicate that the ghosts of the Kellogg family may be actively haunting the uniquely designed mansion.

Intrigued, I sent the photos to several photographers. Our publisher Andrew Perry stated, “For me, it’s kind of like Rorschach. There’s a lot of patterns coming in from adjacent trees. At the same time, primates like us have an almost instinctual way of seeing faces. So, in a pattern-rich environment, faces are bound to come up.” But the fact is he saw ‘something.’ I was elated, so just to see what others might say, I posted on a paranormal group page with the question of what do you think? The photos garnered over 500 hits. There was definitely an interest in the picture.

The Hiram Kellogg Family ~ Hiram’s father Benjamin made the migration to California with his older brother Florentine and Florentine’s family in 1846. The group traveled in a wagon train that included the ill-fated Donner party. The Kellogg wagons made it safely over the Sierras just before the snowstorm that trapped the Donner’s.

With curiosity raging, I copied the original photo again to inspect the rest of the windows. In what seems to be a parlor on the main floor large window, if you look closely, there is a silhouette. It is unsure whether it is male or female …. but once again something is there.