Ludlow Mansion - Idle Hour Farm

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Once part of the Underground Railroad, the historic house is believed to be haunted by former owner Lady Ludlow. Witnesses have seen her apparition in the back hallway and experienced mysteriously floating objects, cold spots and flickering lights.

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Geographic Information

Address:
1421 Mansion Drive
Monroe, WI, 53566
United States

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GPS:
42.61266856222656, -89.6404573042297
County:
Green County, Wisconsin
Nearest Towns:
Monroe, WI (0.8 mi.)
Juda, WI (7.0 mi.)
Browntown, WI (8.2 mi.)
Monticello, WI (9.5 mi.)
Orangeville, IL (10.0 mi.)
Winslow, IL (11.3 mi.)
Woodford, WI (11.6 mi.)
Albany, WI (12.2 mi.)
South Wayne, WI (12.5 mi.)
Argyle, WI (13.0 mi.)

Contact Information

Web:
http://www.ludlowmansion.net

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Comments (10)

  1. Your dear friend from monroe  |  

    My mother once went into the house. It is said if you put lillies in one room and roses in the other nothing happens andway the lillies seem healthier or the roses die if put in the wrong room. Well long story short, once she put the roses in the wrong room and when she closed the door the vase was not thrown, chucked, or even tossed but thrown at the door. It shattered and she quickly swithched the lillies to the right room. She never has gone back, and i dont know who owns the mannor now. But i will say this, never take roses into that house. You would be only asking for trouble. The reason for the roses is that her husband cheated on her with a woman whom he only broaght roses to. When she died is is said she died of a broken heart.
    Being from monroe, i must heed you. Never enter the mannor, i repete never, with crimson roses. If you do, it may be the death of you.

  2. Out of Town Visitor  |  

    I stayed there a few years ago while in town for a wedding, The Experience was wonderful. And the Owners were very Gracious. While staying there my young son got the room across the hall from us so we would leave our door open in the evening to keep an eye on him. The last night we were there i was sitting on the floor doing some work on my laptop and i saw a mans head Peek around the open door Jam, but closer to the floor as though he was on his hands and knees. Then he popped his head out. I thought it was the owner of the B& B Checking on the open room so i got up and went out the door to talk to him. There was no one in the Hallway, I walked down stairs and there was no one down there ether. That creeped me out well enough to make my son sleep on the floor of our room that night.

  3. An old Employee  |  

    I worked at the Idle Hour about 15 years ago as a Banquet server and Bartender. This place is definitely haunted. I was warned upon my interview that there was sightings but I was pretty stunned how much I experienced in my duration of employment.
    I started in June, and at the time there was no working air conditioner in the upper bedrooms. Lady Ludlow’s bedroom was always cold, and it always felt like she was not happy you were in it. Every now and then we would have to go dust it out, but we always did it as quick as possible. In the back of her closet , leads up to a Widows walk that runs the length of the roof. When i was initially shown around , the owner thought it would be cool to let me go up and take a look at Monroe and the beautiful grounds of the Mansion. I couldnt even make it up the steps, it literally felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.

    Below the Bar and grand dining room is the basement that leads to the place where the Underground railroad was. I could be wrong, but as far as the History of Monroe and the Underground railroad goes, it used to lead to around where Alphorn motors sits. The Basement was used as a wine cellar and we were always told to go in with a friend. There were still markings from the slaves scrawled on the walls, if that wasnt creepy enough , you constantly heard crying or felt immense sadness.
    The best sighting that personally happened to me was during a Banquet. Musical that the Monroe Theater Guild players were doing back in the 90’s. It was the play right after the production of the Sound of Music , some kind of barbershop broadway . Anyhow. The head Chef, Patric was in the kitchen garnishing platters with me to be brought out to the banquet, and the lights started flickering ( it always seemed like the more people that were in the Mansion, the more Lady Ludlow would go wild.) and then the knife next to him started to move and slightly float. I just about peed myself. He smiled, and looked at me and goes ” Good evening Lady” and it dropped.

    The “story” goes that Lady Ludlow was on her death bed and told her sons that she did now ever want a drop of Liquor served in her home.. apparently they did. There is also a huge statue to her in the Monroe Cemetery ( the one near the golf course) , that some claim turns her head or moves on a full moon. It dosent. I assure you. I lived in Monroe for years…However, you really should see the statue, its creepy and enchanting at the same time.

  4. i worked here a few years ago, cleaning the bedrooms. one of the sinks just turned on by itself! I tried to turn the sink off but it did nothing. the sink slowly turned off by itself. by the way this happened after I said to a worker who was helping me clean “what if this place is haunted?’ than the sink came on by itself

    • I worked there 20 years ago and my friend and I had the same thing happen to us. The water turned on by itself and my friend yelled out and said “if you are really a ghost make the water go faster.” Well, wish granted and the water turned on full blast.

      I had issues with the radio turning on and off as well for our dinner music when we were closing up for the night. Smoke alarm going off upstairs and no smoke. We had to take the battery out to get it to stop.

  5. It definitely is haunted! I am friends with the owner and I have spent the night over there. The haunting isn’t anger or anything remotely like that, As soon as you step through the door you feel sadness and grief.

    • Okay, I was 15 when I posted this the first time and apparently horrid at writing.
      I am under the impression that it is indeed haunted due to my own experiences when visiting my old friend, the son of the older owners.
      I’ve heard whispers as I walked through the halls, I’ve had faucets turn on and off by themselves, and overall the feelings you get when you enter the building just radiate anxiousness and off-putting. I was able to attend multiple events here too and every time just walking into the building caused me to lose my breath. The overwhelming presence of spirits or whatever makes their home here can be felt no matter what room or where you are.

  6. My father owned the banquet section of the mansion about 8 years ago maybe…buy it’s definitely haunted. Don’t ever go into the basement that’s all I have to say

  7. I went into the Kramer center building and as soon as I made right into the building it got cold all of sudden then the lights turned off and I heard loud singing like someone was standing beside me . I ran as fast as possible. I do security for this building. The basement I explored and no act normal activity. They had secret kitchens for servants and sercet rooms . Vault underground room and its endless room lead to street but don’t stay in the house by yourself. Shadow figures at the Fortunoff hall building window at nightfall

  8. The story about roses is 100% true. Lady Ludlow hates them. She also doesn’t like it when people comment negatively about the house. I was in a hallway being shown around and the girl next to me commented it smelled old and was outdated. She tripped over a rug that was perfectly flat and fell. I think she broke her nose because she wasn’t there after that. The house has cold spots and you feel someone watching you. I love older homes and commented how beautiful it was. I swear someone touched my back lightly but no one was behind me. I’ve also seen a figure standing in the window at night, when it’s closed. A friend use to know someone that lived across the street and no matter what time of night we always saw someone standing in the window.

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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.