Illinois

Bull Valley

Stickney House

Nestled in the unique community of Bull Valley, Illinois it is known as the house of "no corners". A visit to see this strange house led us hear of the ghosts that still live in the house which is now used as the Bull Valley Police Department. Near the tiny town of Bull Valley, Illinois is perhaps one of the strangest houses in northern Illinois.

The yellow brick house was the product of George and Sylvia Stickney who built this English style home in the 1800s when spritualism was at a peak. They designed the house to have no corner for they and their friends were spiritualist and believed that spirits could get lost or stuck in corners, thus preventing their appearance at their often held seances.

The entire second floor of the house was designed as a ballroom and sported the first piano in the county of McHenry. The couple lived in the house happily until the death of George Stickney who died in the house. The ballroom then became a large seach room and people came from far and near to get readings and contact their loved ones through the mediumship of Sylvia Stickney .Sylvia spent her days trying to contact her husband and all of her deceased children.

When Sylvia died the house was rented and then put up for sale. A photographer, taking a picture of the house for the real estate company, captured a woman peering out an upstairs windown although he knew for a fact the house was empty.

The Stickney mansion was finally purchased by Bull Valley and used by both the police department and the Historical Society. A police officier related the happenings one night when he was alone in the building. He felt someone was watching him and looked up. There, peering in at him with his face pressed on the outside of the window was an old man. Thinking someone's car broke down and the driver was looking for a phone, went outside and found no one. The following day he mentioned the incident to a superior who showed him some pictures of the Stickley family. The officer identified Mr. Stickley as the man looking in the previous night.

A visitor to the building, after receiving permission to come back at night to check out the grounds captured a "frightning" EVP of a man saying "go home" which she promptly did.

The Stickley family is buried in a nearby cemetery but perhaps make nightly journeys to their former home.

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