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This ‘haunted’ Florida house is full of secrets. But it’s running out of time

Bradlee-McIntyre House in Longwood built for Boston architect

Bradlee-McIntyre House (Anthony Talcott, Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

LONGWOOD, Fla. – Those driving along Warren Avenue in Longwood have likely spotted this roughly 140-year-old building.

But few might know how it got there.

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The home — also known as the Bradlee-McIntyre House — is estimated to have been built in the 1880s for a Boston architect named Nathaniel Bradlee.

It was used as a vacation home for Bradlee and his family, though it was originally built in Altamonte Springs.

Old photograph of the Bradlee-McIntyre House as it existed back in Altamonte Springs (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

While Bradlee’s family spent several winters in the home, he died shortly after it was erected, and it was later sold to the McIntyre family in 1904. And it continued to change hands several times after that.

Over half a century later in 1969, city officials sought to tear the home down to use the land, though they made an offer to the community first.

“The land was more valuable than the house itself, so that’s why it was put up: ‘Buy it for $1 and move it, or we’re gonna give it to the fire department to burn down,’” one of the docents, Marla Pickelsimer, told News 6.

As a result, the Longwood Historic Society rescued the home from destruction, having it moved to a plot of land that had been donated up in Longwood.

Portrait of Grace Bedford in the home's "Museum Room." She donated the land that the Bradlee-McIntyre House now sits on. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

The entire building (as well as the nearby Inside-Outside House) was transported along the highway to its new home at 130 W. Warren Ave.

An old photograph in the Bradlee-McIntyre House Museum of the two homes as they were moved to Longwood. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)
Additional photos in the museum showing the houses being moved (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

The house was later placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, cementing its status as a historical landmark in the area.

Since then, the Bradlee-McIntyre house has undergone major renovations thanks to the Longwood Historic Society, with many of its rooms being remodeled to match the aesthetic of its early days.

The foyer of the house. It leads into several other rooms where the Bradlees would have entertained guests, as well as what would have been at one time a butler's pantry. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Guests can tour the building, finding a few bedrooms on the second story — one of which has been remodeled to look like a nursery.

A bedroom outfitted to look like a nursery. While the Bradlees' children may have been grown by the time the home was built, toys could have been kept around for visiting children. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Another room on that floor sits to the righthand side as soon as visitors head upstairs, though according to Pickelsimer, no one’s quite sure what it was originally used for.

As such, it’s been formatted into a “Museum Room,” where the Historical Society has showcased many of the related artifacts it found.

The "Museum Room" has a table outfitted with old newspapers, several old photographs of the Bradlee-McIntyre House, a vintage typewriter, record player and bottles found as refuse. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

However, this floor is where some of the secrets of the house begin to emerge.

An “empath” — someone who professes to be a psychic or spiritual medium — once roamed the Bradlee-McIntyre House searching for specters, and he reported feeling some “electrical activity” in one of the second-floor bedrooms.

In this bedroom, a self-proclaimed psychic said he could feel the emotions of a presence in the room. Furthermore, he reported the lights going out while he tried to investigate — though no one was around to flip the switch. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Even before then, previous residents reported seeing strange figures in the shadows.

“When we talked to the family who lived here in the 1970s, (the children) came back as adults to go through the house when they found out it was a museum,” Pickelsimer said. “And one of the ladies said that was her bedroom, and she would see somebody standing in the door.”

A large bedroom outfitted with vintage furniture on the house's second floor. One of the previous residents told museum volunteers that she would see a figure in the doorway when she was younger. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Climbing to the third floor, visitors will come across a diorama of the house in a glass case, as well as a bedroom to the left.

A diorama of the Bradlee-McIntyre House with a small placard that reads, "By John Hall — replica of Bradlee McIntyre house formerly in Altamonte Springs now located in Longwood on loan from Altamonte Springs Historical Society" (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)
A third-floor bedroom (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

There are some more nooks and crannies stashed away on this floor, which Pickelsimer said were “leftover” bits during the home’s initial construction.

Pickelsimer showed News 6 one such space, which leads to the exterior of the third-floor bedroom and the home’s tower.

A small storage area in the home made up of leftover space during its construction. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)
The rafters leave plenty of space between the ceilings of the third-floor rooms and the roof of the house. It's enough space for a person to climb through. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)
The house's tower seen from the outside (left), second-floor bedroom (middle) and third-floor rafters (right) (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

The third floor also hosts a room that acted as a servant’s quarters or extra bedroom.

But this leads to another secret inside the house.

Third-floor servants' quarters (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

In this area is a small closet space that seems to lead to nowhere.

A small closet area inside the third-floor servants' quarters (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

But if you go around to the back of the third floor and walk through a small door, you’ll find another “extra space” in the house.

[STORY CONTINUES BELOW]

A map of the third floor, which shows the bedroom (top), attic storage (top right), servants' quarters (bottom), and additional attic space (highlighted in green) (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)
A door on the third floor leading to another backroom attic space. Pickelsimer (right) allowed News 6 to explore it. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

But the strangeness doesn’t stop there.

Another docent, Kathy Goshen, told News 6 that a guest took pictures inside one of the parlor rooms, though “strange orbs” appeared in the images afterward.

Strange orbs reportedly appeared in a guest's pictures during a tour of the home last year. The circle indicates where the orbs showed up in the guest's photos. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

And in the third floor’s passage behind the servants’ quarters, there have been reports of visitors hearing things and feeling presences, according to Goshen.

“Just by coincidence, but there’s a little sign (in the museum) about a lawyer who lived in the house. We don’t know if he died in that room — we cannot know that — but we put it there. And you’ll be amazed at the people who have come in to do tours, they said, ‘Oh, why yes, I feel something in here,’” Goshen said.

The strange experiences that many guests have had may not be for nothing. The Bradlee-McIntyre House hosts a “Longwood Haunted History Tour” for Halloween, where guests can learn about supposed ghost stories involving the house.

The three-floor, Queen Anne-style house features plenty of history — and plenty of mystery. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

However, the site is in major need of improvements.

Specifically, the Historic Society is trying to replace the house’s upper shingle roof with a metal one.

“It’s very expensive just because of the nature of that house — because it’s three stories high, because it’s historic, because they have to get a crane out there to do it,” said Jason Byrne, the Historic Society’s vice president.

While the group was able to scrape together enough funds to do the lower roof a few years ago, they’re short on money now, so they need some help.

“We don’t have enough money yet to do the upper roof, and we’ve had leaks, so we’ve just been patching and patching,” Byrne said. “We’ve had to repair some of the drywall and roof and stuff like that where it’s leaked.”

If the roof isn’t replaced, it poses major risks of leaking, which could threaten the artifacts and interior of the building.

While the lower roof has been replaced with metal, the upper roof is still made up of shingles, posing a huge risk of leaks in the historic landmark. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

As such, the Historic Society is putting together a poker tournament on Saturday to help raise that dough.

“We’re hoping to have somewhere around 70-100 people participate. They show up about 4 p.m., and we’ve got food that is catered,” Byrne explained. “It’s a really, really good dinner that’s served beforehand, and then they start dealing the cards at 6 p.m.”

According to Byrne, the tournament also features an open bar and prizes, such as fishing trips and gift certificates.

The tournament is scheduled from 4:30-10 p.m. at the Longwood Community Building at 200 W. Warren Ave.

Player registration is $75 per person, along with an option for couple’s registration that runs $125.

“This is gonna be like a $60,000 to $70,000 expense on that upper roof, so the other things after that are going to be relatively minor, but it’s something that has to be done,” Byrne stated.

Once the new metal roof is installed on the home, Byrne predicts it should last for around 100 years.

For more information on Saturday’s poker tournament fundraiser or to purchase tickets, click here.

For information about tours of the home, click here.


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