An interior designer who spent six weeks renovating a reportedly haunted house in Ohio has said the experience turned him into a believer in ghosts.
John Ryan, a property expert from Florida, was tasked with updating Bihl Manor in Fremont, a historic home built in 1898. The work was filmed for the television series A Very Haunted Renovation.
Ryan said the house had an unsettling atmosphere from the moment he arrived, recalling: “It was like a home that you see in a horror movie. There’s just this eerie feeling about it… It was straight out of a movie.”
He said noticeable changes in temperature were among the first unusual experiences he encountered inside the property.
“It was cold, and you’d walk through these different parts of the home and you can just feel it. I mean, it was wild,” he said.
Ryan admitted there were several occasions when he considered abandoning the renovation, saying he felt drained while working at the house.
“There were at least three or four times where I’m like, ‘I can’t do this, like I need to go’. I just felt drained; my energy was just not there,” he said.
The renovation team used paranormal-investigation equipment, including REM pods, to monitor the property for changes in electromagnetic fields and temperature. Ryan said the results altered his view of the haunting rumours.
“It was wild, because I’ve never experienced that. I don’t know if I’ve ever really believed in it, but I mean, I’m a believer now,” he said.
He added that the team learned information about the house’s former owners, their children and the building’s history, although the nature of the alleged paranormal activity was not established.
The makeover was designed to respect Bihl Manor’s Victorian character. Ryan said he believed any spirits remaining in the property would have approved of the finished work.
“I think we did a great job sticking to the whole Victorian era. We left the spirits very happy,” he said.
