Ghosts of parties past

©Associated Presss, published July 9, 2000

Is it haunted? Berkeley Castle's history breathes spirit into a West Virginia town.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- When the foliage is just right in the town below, the tower of Berkeley Castle peeps through the trees like a mountain mirage.

"People will walk in and say, "Man! What is this place?' Just the fact that there's this castle sitting here on a mountain in West Virginia surprises them," Pam Unger says.

Unger works part-time at the castle, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1885 by Col. Samuel Taylor Suit as a "summer cottage" for his bride, the 22-year-old daughter of a congressman.

Built of silica sandstone, it is a half-scale reproduction of the Berkeley Castle near Bath, England. Each stone for this castle was hand-cut and lugged to the site by horse and wagon.

Suit was a wealthy businessman who was ambassador to England under Presidents Grant and Hayes. When he was 46, Suit met Rosa Pelham, then 17, and tried to persuade her to marry him. She refused. He tried again when the two met five years later, successfully winning her hand with the pledge to build her a castle.

He chose the location because he apparently believed Berkeley Springs would take off and become the Martha's Vineyard of the mid-Atlantic. At the time, Unger says, Berkeley Springs had three hotels with more than 500 rooms apiece. The mineral springs were, and remain, a major draw.

The castle cost Suit $100,000 to build, and he died before the three-year project was finished. His young wife had to complete the task to inherit his fortune.

Rosa went on to host elaborate sunset-to-sunrise parties, inviting her debutante friends from around the country. She lived lavishly, hiring orchestras night after night and caterers for every bash.

Eventually, she went broke.

Today, the castle is filled with antiques, few of them originals. That's because as Rosa depleted her funds, she sold off her belongings piece by piece until there was nothing left.

While a few original pieces were repurchased, most of the furnishings belong to the family of the current owner, Walter Bird.

Rosa moved out of the castle $40,000 in debt and retired, in her 50s, to a nearby farm.

"It was like she led two different lives, the life of a rich debutante . . . and then a poor woman making jellies and growing chickens," Unger says.

Employees and visitors have reported encountering four spirits, believed to be those of Rosa, the colonel, a beau of Rosa's named Jawbone and a little girl no one has been able to identify.

"Some people are freaked out as soon as they come in the door," Unger says. "They say there are cold spots and that the hair on the back of their neck stands up."

Adds Unger: "That's the biggest question: Is it haunted? I think so."

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Berkeley Springs, the West Virginia town that touts itself as "the country's first spa," is 101 miles west of Washington, D.C., on U.S. 522, about 6 miles south of I-70.

SPAS: Among the spas in the area are:

Coolfont Resort's Spectrum Spa, (800) 888-8768 or (304) 258-4500.

Country Inn's Renaissance Spa, (800) 822-6630 or (304) 258-2210.

Berkeley Springs State Park, (800) CALL WVA or (304) 258-2711.

STAYING THERE: Coolfont Resort, the Country Inn and dozens of hotels and bed-and-breakfasts are listed on the Web at www.berkeleysprings.com. Or call Travel Berkeley Springs at (800) 447-8797. Nearby Cacapon State Park also has a 49-room lodge and 30 furnished cabins. Call (304) 258-1022 or (800) CALL-WVA.

BERKELEY CASTLE: Tours run year-round from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The cost is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children under 14 and free to children 3 and under. Call (304) 258-4000 or (800) 896-4001, or e-mail brkcastle@yahoo.com.

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