Today is the big day. It gives me great happiness to share this new podcast with all of you. Welcome to True Tales From Old Houses by Blake Hill House.
In this introductory episode, I describe the headspace I was in when Andy and I pursued buying Blake Hill House. Also, my guest, archaeologist Donn Grenda, discovers 60 years’ worth of artifacts from the clogged fireplaces in his craftsman style home. His ash dump archaeology project led him to some bizarre findings and a couple of nearly famous people. Intrigued, Donn went on to research the history and folklore of the times.
How to Listen
You may download this episode from Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or listen below. Be sure to come back to read the rest of this post. It contains all the show notes and photos referenced in the episode.
Note: If you read the BHH blog in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.
Currently, the RSS feed from the podcast is trickling down to many of your favorite podcast locations such as Google Play and TuneIn. As additional services become available, I will update with proper links. It should not take too long. If you have any listening issues, shoot me an email, and I will try to help.
How Stacy and Andy Bought Blake Hill House
Believe it or not, living in an old house was not a lifelong dream. During the first half of the podcast, I refer to the story of how Andy and I ended up buying Blake Hill House. In 2015, I wrote about that topic in three parts. Here are links to those posts:
What is an Ash Dump?
As promised, here are some of the slides from Donn’s powerpoint presentation about his findings. These two show where exactly one can find an ash dump and real life pics of Donn’s fireplaces. Click on the images for a larger view.
Artifacts & Oddities
Here are a few additional slides of the artifacts we talked about in Donn’s interview. Notice the cat!
More About Donn Grenda
To read more about Donn’s day job as an archaeologist, please visit his website:Â Statistical Research, Inc.
Information & Book Links
During the podcast I alluded to the fact there might be more to the story regarding Edith S. Moore’s inheritance and her husband too. I was not trying to be intentionally provocative or serve as click-bait. A few months ago when I was heavily researching this story, I stumbled upon some information that made me scratch my head a little. Now, I cannot find that information anywhere. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would assume someone wiped the internet clean. However, I am not. Who knows what happened? Instead, here a few links about Joseph Pulitzer, Edith Pulitzer Moore, and Clement Moore.
‘Twas The Night Before Christmas Author, Clement Moore
Edith Pulitzer Returns to America
Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power
Pulitzer: A Life
How To Be a Guest on an Upcoming Episode
Want to be a guest on an upcoming episode? I want to hear your story. The first step is to fill out this brief survey: BHH Podcast Inquiry and then, let’s talk.
During October, the topic is ghost stories. Are you a paranormal believer or a skeptic like me? Not all ghost stories are scary. If you feel that your old house has a caretaker or maybe a menace, please fill out the survey. All stories are welcome!
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If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave us a rating and a review. We would love to hear what you think, and feel free to invite your friends to take a listen.
Special thanks to Audionautix for our theme song as well as all of the music in today’s episode.
16 Comments
Downraspberrylane
Great podcast! You have a natural voice for it and you tell a story very well. Very interesting about the artifacts found.
Stacy
Thank you so much for listening and for your feedback.
Stacey @ Poofing the Pillows
Stacy, I enjoyed this so much! I listened to every word while having my coffee this morning.
You have the perfect voice and so much enthusiasm for this subject.
Loved the ash dump archaeology information. Have I told you that my dad is currently living in a house that is over 100 years old? This is the third one in the past twenty years that he’s redoing. This time we thought he would just be moving in and enjoying the house…he will be 80 in January. But it turns out that the house has too many problems and hidden mysteries. He is about to rip out the kitchen and start on it. I’m sure that will involve redoing the foundation and flooring situation because it’s bad news.
Looking forward to more of these!
Stacy
Thank you for your comments, Stacey. I am glad you found it engaging. 🙂
You have mentioned your dad before, but I am not sure I knew he was currently redoing an old house. He must be a wealth of knowledge at near-80 as well as having done this type of thing three times over. Perhaps he would like to be a guest on the podcast?
Liz
Just finished listening and enjoyed every minute! The topic was interesting and engendered a desire to learn more and the production quality-your voice, music, clarity-made it a pleasure to follow. I am looking forward to the next one. Congratulations!
Stacy
Thank you so much, Liz. I am glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate the feedback too.
SH
Bravo! Great topic for your premier, and you are really easy to listen to. Thanks Donn–that was so fascinating, and please send updates as you progress in your next ash dump.
Stacy
Thank you so much, SH. I am glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Andrea
I loved it! The ash dump/concealed ritual content was fascinating. We have an ash dump in our single fireplace, and maybe I should check it out.
Our 1913 house did give us an unexpected gift a couple of weeks ago. When I removed a drawer from the linen cupboard, I found an old (1910s-1920s, I’d guess) promotional flyer for Kellog’s Bran stuck back behind the drawer glides, in near perfect condition. I send you photos at your e-mail address. I know you will love the florid copy about the evils of constipation!
Stacy
Thank you, Andrea! I am glad you enjoyed the podcast. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect first guest. Donn’s project is so interesting.
Thanks for the photos too! 😀
Devyn
Finally had a chance to listen this morning…. Congrats! I was thoroughly transfixed on the story. This is a great start to your podcasting career and I wish you much luck.
As an old house person, I was hoping to find a few artifacts from the past after moving into our 1850s house, but only a few have come up. Found so far in the attic: insurance advertising posters from the late 1860’s (which were sadly printed on a high acid paper disintegrated into flakes of paper when we tried to salvage them, parts of a small notebook with handwritten notes in pen and ink from we suspect the late 19th century and two small glass bottles. The only other items from the past would be a VHS porno tape and a couple of dirty magazines from the 1990s found in the basement.
Perhaps when we start opening up the kitchen walls and ceiling we will stumble across more artifacts.
Stacy
Thank you, Devyn. I am so happy that you liked it. The artifacts we found here have been a little disappointing too. My wish is for a secret door somewhere. 🙂 I hope you find something in your kitchen walls too.
Julia at Home on 129 Acres
The podcast was very well done. I like your style. I wanted to compliment you on the quality of the audio. Very, very well done. I liked the guitar music too.
When we put our offer in on our farm, we talked to a friend of a friend who had boarded her horse at the farm. We wanted the inside scoop and if she knew about any issues with the property. Her rundown included “there’s a ghost under the stairs in the barn.” Completely matter-of-fact. Just as normal as “there are some issues with the electrical.” Um. Okay? My husband loves horror movies and his ambition is to have a ghost, so he was all-in. I definitely do not discount the mysteries of the universe, including the spirit world. However, we have not seen evidence of this ghost (although we did fix the three missing stairs in the barn, so maybe we disrupted its energy).
Stacy
Thank you for your feedback, Julia. I’m glad you enjoyed the podcast.
That’s a funny story about your possible ghost. It sounds like the spirit was nagging all of you to fix the stairs, and you satisfied the request. 😀 The first time someone asked me if BHH was haunted, I thought they were joking. Fortunately, I responded appropriately, and I didn’t stick my foot in my mouth too far.