Benevolent ghost believed to haunt mansion

The sound of footsteps on the stairs when no one else is around and swirling candle flames are among the unusual occurrences Gloria Rouse has experienced at Rockledge Mansion in Occoquan.

For the first time — and for one day only — Rockledge will be included Sunday in the town’s ghost tours so others have the opportunity to experience the unexplainable.

While Rouse has not seen the Confederate soldier believed to haunt the 250-year-old building that looms over Mill Street, she believes he — or something — is there and means no harm.

“I never feel scared when I’m alone in here,” Rouse said. “I get a warm feeling.”

Rouse, along with her husband, Tyler, own Georgetown Caterers. They have catered events in the portion of Rockledge that includes a ballroom for years. That, and the rest of the mansion, had been the residence of Ron and Joy Houghton. But when Joy Houghton died last summer, her husband moved. Now the Rouses lease the historic building.

During a recent visit to Rockledge, Rouse lit some candles in a candelabra in the winter kitchen. “There is no forced air heat in here,” she said. “Sometimes the flames will swirl.”

While they didn’t do more than flicker during that visit, they have at other times.

Paranormal investigators recently spent quite a bit of time at Rockledge. While the results of their investigation, which involved scientific equipment designed to pick up sounds and thermal images and changes in magnetic fields, have not been finalized, they weren’t disappointed.

“We sat and watched the candle flames rotate for about two minutes,” Rouse said.

“We are still reviewing our data [about 20 hours of video and 20 hours of audio],” said Tara Ryan, who along with his husband, Max, founded the paranormal group PEPPR in Alexandria in 2005.

“So far, we have heard several disembodied voices answering questions and a lot of disembodied footsteps coming from the upper level of the house,” she said.

The footsteps are something Rouse knows well.

While the Houghtons were still living at Rockledge, they invited Rouse to spend the night if she had an event there that ran late.

She remembers one night when she was asleep in a second-floor bedroom. “I heard footsteps on the stairs, and it woke me up,” she said.

The next morning she ran into the Houghtons outside and told them she heard them come home the night before.

But they were just then returning to Rockledge. The footsteps were not theirs.

Rouse said she also has heard the steps during the day, but they do not frighten her.

“How can you be afraid of a noise?” she asked.

“If I had to guess who was going up and down the stairs, I would guess it was a man,” Rouse said.

And that “man” may well be the ghost of the Confederate soldier.

Rouse also recalled a story of a woman who was walking along the driveway in front of Rockledge and saw what she believed to be a Confederate soldier. Later, an examination of the front steps revealed what looked like wet hobnail boot prints, from the type of footwear a soldier would have worn at that time.

“When I’m here by myself sometimes I will hear someone knocking at the door, but when I go to answer it, there is no one there,” Rouse said. “Now I just look out the window.”

On Sunday, those attending the Occoquan Merchants Association’s ghost walks will have a chance to do more than look into the windows of Rockledge. It will be included on the tours given at 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m.

“I believe it’s time for a new beginning for Rockledge,” Rouse said. “Let it be what it really is — an institution — and people should be able to see it.”

“Rockledge is one of Occoquan’s oldest buildings, and one that is inextricably linked to the town’s founding,” said Occoquan Mayor Earnie Porta. “It’s not often open to the public, so we’re all especially grateful for this rare opportunity.”

Kristyn Gleason, president of the Occoquan Merchants Association, said the group has had “constant bookings” for the Halloween tours.

“For people to have an opportunity to go inside the house for the first time is huge,” she said. “People want to learn more about the history of Occoquan.”

For more information about the tours and to make reservations, call the Polka Dot Divas shop at 703-910-7059. The cost is $15 for adults, and $10 for children.

Staff writer Aileen M. Streng can be reached at 703-530-3907.