Isaac Brown, a carpenter and trader with Native Americans, reportedly grew fearful of attacks from them in 1856, so he built a house that was designed for hiding. An Orson Fowler-designed eight-sided structure, it contained nine secret passageways and spaces.[1]
A tunnel was built between the house and a woodshed, which some have claimed used as a safe house on the Underground Railway.[1][3] A small storage room beneath the front porch was supposedly used to hide the runaway slaves.[4] This local lore has been disputed by historians.[5]
Brown gave the house to his son Edwin A. Brown as a wedding present. The younger Brown and his wife Ruth Edward (Pier) Brown had three children in the house. The house became a rental unit in 1900, and remained so until the late 1960s to early 1970s.[1]
Plans for a new high school threatened the house. Despite the house being on the National Register of Historic Places, no buyers were interested and it was days away from demolition. Local dressmaker and antiques dealer Marlene Hansen bought the house without viewing the interior. Hansen and her family restored the house, turning it into a historic and spooky tour house. In 2005 The Southern Wisconsin Paranormal Research Group studied the house and reported that they found paranormal activities there. "I can't tell what others have seen, felt, or experienced, but I can tell that they do experience something," Hansen said. "Their body language changes and I can see it in their faces."[1] Her grandson, who often gives tours of the house, has said that visitors have reported hearing sounds, including small children laughing and playing, and feeling cold hands touching them. Some people believe that the children are Edwin Brown's children.[1]
