Would you buy a haunted house? The true dark story behind a 'haunted' mansion for sale
SEMINOLE, Okla. — This 12,000-square-foot mansion is up for sale, and its buyer will be the owner of a significant piece of Oklahoma history. But will they get more than they bargained for?
The Grisso Mansion in Seminole, Oklahoma is once again up for sale, this time listed for $1.8 million by its decade-long owner the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Built in 1926 by a local oil baron, some say there's a dark history associated with the mansion, and that it could even be haunted.
The 4-bed, 6-bath mansion is fully furnished and sits on about 11 acres. The property includes a vineyard, 1,600 square-foot garage, an in-ground pool, pool house, gazebos, fountains, statues, courtyard, tennis and basketball courts, lily and koi ponds and an arboretum.
There is also the guest quarters, once meant for servants, made up of two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two living rooms.
Who built the Grisso Mansion in Seminole?
William Edward Grisso, also known as "Doc" Grisso, came to Oklahoma in 1904 to be a doctor at the Seminole Indian Mission, according to The Oklahoman.
He eventually became the town's pharmacist, having left school early before finishing his medical degree.
The story goes that Grisso began acquiring mineral rights from others, including tribal members, and when oil was discovered in Seminole, he became one of the wealthiest men in the county. He built the mansion for his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Grisso.
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma bought the mansion and its lands in 2012, and used it for weddings and other events. The tribe's General Council voted to dissolve operations and then to sell the property in 2019, said Assistant Chief Brian Palmer.
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Is the Grisso Mansion haunted?
Stories abound that the Grisso Mansion is a place fraught with paranormal activity, and the Seminole tribe says Grisso's road to wealth was a dark and dishonorable one.
Palmer said Grisso acquired much of his mineral rights through "shady deals" with Seminole tribal members, a commonality they share with other tribes in Oklahoma during the oil boom.
This includes a Seminole woman he married, from whom he inherited much land and mineral holdings when she died not long after, Palmer said.
"There was a lot of shady deals with either someone marrying someone in the tribe, or a judge awarding somebody custody of a minor, becoming their guardian, and being able to essentially steal their mineral rights," Palmer said.
"Seminole Nation is essentially one of the poorest, (most) economically deprived tribes in Oklahoma," Palmer said. "Even though we had one of the highest producing oil regions in the world. It was basically all stolen."
Stories of paranormal activity include "seeing a woman that can be best described as Maggie Grisso roaming the halls," according to the Native American Paranormal Project which filmed a documentary in the mansion in 2013 that attempted to share the tribes' side of the oil boom story.
Would you buy a haunted house? Have you lived in a haunted house?
A recent study conducted by Rocket Homes which surveyed over 1,000 Americans found that 1 in 4 individuals have their own ghost stories. The survey results also found that 55.8% of Americans believe in ghosts, 27.7% don’t believe in them and 16.5% are undecided as to whether ghosts exist.
When asked if they’ve had any previous experience with houses that are haunted:
- One-quarter of surveyed adults claim to have lived in a haunted house
- 1 in 3 Americans surveyed would be willing to purchase a house that is haunted
- 21% of surveyed adults would try to sell a house they purchased if they discovered it was haunted