Within the creaking, ancient frames of Maitland’s historic homes and buildings, paranormal investigator Renata Daniel sees spirits.
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Ms Daniel, who has worked as a psychic and ghost tour operator for decades, will take willing participants on a trip through the tangled history of the iconic Grossmann House later this month.
“It’s amazing the number of personal encounters people have had [in Maitland],” she said.
“There are reports of ghost encounters from 100 years ago that are still happening now.
“There was an apparition seen on a roadway in the Maitland area in the 1880s.
“And, just a few years ago, it happened again.”
The focus of this particular investigative tour will be the historic, National Trust site, which sits on Church Street in Maitland.
The mirror-image homes were built in 1870 by business partners Isaac Beckett and Samuel Owen.
In 1984, following the death of Mr Beckett, the site became a girl’s high school.
In 1963 the students relocated to the current site at East Maitland, but Ms Daniel thinks at least one resident of the school still calls Grossmann House home.
“At the last investigation I had a group of about 25 [people] downstairs in Brough House.
“And we heard footsteps upstairs,” Ms Daniel said.
“I thought there was an intruder. A volunteer went upstairs but there was no one there.
“An owner died on the property but we think it might have been one of the headmistresses of the school.”
According to the National Trust, which oversees the properties, Grossmann Ho
use “reflects a prosperous Victorian ambiance … In season, an antique rose garden is a highlight.”
And while Ms Daniel, and many of her guests, will be keeping their eyes peeled for ghostly apparitions, the night is also about exploring local history.
“People can expect fantastic storytelling about the family that built the house, the girls that boarded and studied there,” she said.
That being said, budding paranormal investigators are encouraged to bring their ghost-hunting equipment or make use of Ms Daniel’s gear.
“We also give people a chance to feel and experience the paranormal,” she said.
“We’re not running around with torches screaming at people.This is a learning experience.”
