KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WZZM) – It's Halloween Eve 2015.
Paranormal experts strongly believe this is the time of the year when the spirit world gets restless. But the ghosts in a haunted house in Kalamazoo don't choose to wait for Halloween to make their presence known.
The current residents of the house say entities walk the upstairs hallway every day, and there have been several eyewitness accounts of a ghostly apparition of a man peering out the attic window at passersby below.
The Hopkins House at 704 S. Park St., near downtown Kalamazoo, used to be owned by a woman living in Florida.
"She had been renting it out for several years," said Nicole Du Shane who, along with her husband, Robert, purchased the house last spring. "The former owner could never keep any tenants because they all came to the conclusion that the house was haunted."
The Du Shanes say former tenants filed a total of 36 police reports, and each report was for the same thing – people living there thought intruders had broken in.
"The police would respond to each call to this house, search it thoroughly, and find nothing," said Nicole. "After the last tenant bolted, the house sat vacant for two years before our bid to buy the house was accepted."
The Du Shanes knew the rumored haunted history of the Hopkins Home, who used to live there, and what happened there before they bought it -- but none of that was going to prevent their purchase.
"I guess that's what happens when you're a paranormal investigator," said Nicole who, along with her husband, has written and published several books about hauntings. "I've been one since 1999, and Robert's been doing it since 1993."
Eighteen months prior to purchasing the home, this ghost-hunting duo was contacted by the home owner to do a paranormal investigation. Robert and Nicole say they spent 48 hours inside the Hopkins House, performing various tests with a variety of electronic equipment, including an EMF meter, digital thermometers and recorders and cameras with infrared vision.
"When we were investigating in the attic, we picked up a very clear EVP (electronic voice phenomenon)," said Robert Du Shane. "The EVP said, 'Buy and fix,' so it was at that moment Nicole and I decided to put a bid in on the house, and if we were lucky to buy it, we would restore it." (Hear a recording in the player below; click here if the player doesn't appear.)
For this ghost-hunting duo, a haunted house is a dream house.
The Hopkins House was built in 1896. It was owned by George Patterson Hopkins, a prominent prosecuting attorney in Kalamazoo at the time. He was also at one point a probate judge.
George, his wife, Ella, and their only child, Harris, lived in the home.
"George Hopkins' health began to fail in 1933, and he died of heart failure when he was 73-years-old," said Nicole. "He passed away upstairs in the master bedroom."
According to Hopkins' obituary, he was very active in Masonic circles, having held many of the highest offices in that organization.
"Freemasons often hold a ritual at their home where they place a cornerstone somewhere on the house," said Nicole. "We're certain Mr. Hopkins placed a cornerstone somewhere in this house, but we haven't located it yet."
The Du Shanes closed on the house in March 2015, and during their first six months living there, they're convinced they're not living alone.
"One of the most active rooms is George Hopkins' bedroom, where he died in 1933," said Nicole. "We constantly hear what sounds like footsteps upstairs, and doors opening and closing.
"When you're walking down the main staircase, you can hear what sounds like somebody walking down the steps right behind you," added Nicole. "Off the kitchen there's a servant's staircase, and we're constantly hearing someone going up and down those stairs."
Another unexplained phenomena in the house is the light fixture that's centered in the middle of the living room on the main floor.
"There's absolutely no electrical wires running to it," said Nicole. "But every once in a while, the light just turns on."
The Du Shanes believe they have two ghosts living with them in the house.
"We think it's two male entities," said Nicole. "We're certain George Hopkins is one of them."
The Du Shanes believe the other ghost is that of the Hopkins' servant.
"We've had two completely different psychics, who don't know each other, come in and investigate," added Nicole. "Both of them came up with the same name – Asa.
"The reason why we think Asa might have been the servant is because since we moved in, several people have come to our door claiming they saw a black man, wearing a white shirt, looking down from the attic windows."
The Du Shanes say close to twenty different people have approached them at the house claiming they've seen the image of a man in the windows.
Robert says he's certain he heard Asa's voice soon after he and Nicole moved in.
"I was doing dishes in the kitchen and I dropped a plate, and clear as could be, right behind me, I heard a voice saying, 'I'll get the broom, sir,'" said Robert. "I actually stood back and looked around to see if somebody was in the house, but there was no one."
Nicole said the sightings by passersbys, and Robert's experience in the kitchen, prompted her to start a research project, hoping to find anybody named Asa who lived in Kalamazoo at the time George Hopkins owned the home. She scoured Kalamazoo census records.
"During the time period of the late 1890s up until 1935, there were three Asas living in Kalamazoo," said Nicole. "All three were African American men.
"One was a brick layer, and another was a farmer who lived in the Comstock area, so it was easy to quickly eliminate them, but I did find another Asa that from 1898 to 1935, his occupation in the census records was butler."
Nicole saw in the census that the Asa who was a butler happened to live five blocks from the Hopkins House.
"I may never be able to find out if this is definitely the same Asa, but there's a lot of coincidences that point to this gentleman as being the Asa who probably worked here," added Nicole.
When the Du Shanes complete the restoration of the Hopkins House, they say they're going to turn it into a haunted bed and breakfast.
"It just seems as though someone else is always here," said Robert. "It was their house first, and they're welcome to stay because they're not causing any problems.
"We have a house that has history and ghosts, so we want to make that easy for people to find, and be able to share it with the community."
The Du Shanes say if you ever choose to visit their house, and venture inside, make sure you listen closely, because you might just hear George Hopkins walking down the upstairs hallway, and if you're outside, remember to look up at the attic windows because Asa might be watching.
If you'd like to tour the Haunted Hopkins House, you can do it Friday night. The Du Shanes say they're holding a Halloween paranormal investigation party, which begins at 9:00 p.m. and ends at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
The cost per person is $40, and all the proceeds will go toward the restoration of the house. There are four individual reservations left, so if you're interested, click HERE and you will be taken directly to the registration page.
Those attending Friday night will get a chance to use real paranormal investigation equipment and will be taught how to ghost hunt. In addition, there will be a real wedding inside the home at midnight.
The Du Shanes say they hope to have all the restorations in the home done by Halloween 2016, so the haunted Hopkins House bed & breakfast can open for business.
