Thornewood Castle




When we were members of the WSGS, we had the priveledge of being invited by Deanna Robinson to come experience
her world as she shared her wonderful stories of this Historic Castle on American Lake, on March 9, May 21st and September 29th.


The Thornewood Castle Investigation

written by
Henry Bailey

Former President of the
Washington State Ghost Society


Driving through the gated entry to Thornewood Castle would be the beginning of an interesting evening for a group of members from the Washington State Ghost Society. As we entered the gates to a private section of residences and turned down the short road to Thornewood, our destination came into view, an exquisite example of Tudor/Gothic architecture was firmly entrenched on a small hill, seemingly engraved into the landscape, which jutted out to the American Lake.

Thornewood Castle had been brought to our attention by its role in the filming of the Stephen King movie, ROSE RED. With 27,000 square feet covering three stories of living space and 54 rooms, we were confronted with investigating reports of paranormal phenomena taking place throughout most of the home. It would encompass the largest area any of our investigations had ever covered

While Thornewood’s timeless look can easily conjure up thoughts of uneasy spirits looking through the windows at visitors or walking the halls to check on the guests, we noticed an atmosphere of age and serenity upon our arrival and meeting with owner Deanna Robinson. Whether due to the amount of antiques filling the rooms or the history that the Castle has been part of, there is a stately calm at Thornewood. There is also a silent sense of expectation that a walk into any room is a walk into a different period of time. We had been told some of the secrets of Thornewood before our arrival and in our interviews with Deanna were to learn that, indeed, some of the spirits of the prior owners and visitors to Thornewood may have never left.

Unlike the researcher in the movie ROSE RED, most paranormal investigators have to content themselves with small meters that measure variances in electric and magnetic energy, video and tape equipment, along with 35mm cameras, and digital cameras, motion sensors, non-contact thermometers and other tools. We would be using a full array of this equipment to search for paranormal activity in Thornewood. Our group also included three psychic/sensitives who would wonder through the rooms and hallways to pick up impressions related to anything paranormal or events that transpired long ago and were possibly imbedded in the home itself. Some of Thornewood’s structure came from an English castle that was over 500 years old. There is good anecdotal evidence that any material can retain energy that it was once exposed to and play this energy back under certain circumstances. In fact, many ghost stories have their basis in a scene being replayed in the form of a holographic movie. Such ghosts are called residual spirits. They are nothing more than a recording that can be seen under specific conditions. Strong personalities often seem to embed energy into the atmosphere of their homes. Chester Thorne was such a personality and legend has it that Chester Thorne remained at Thornewood. We would spend a good deal of the evening trying to find him.

We had parked off the circular driveway a number of feet from the main door to the Castle and while unloading our equipment we noticed the famous sunken garden that was featured in the film, ROSE RED. Since it was now approaching dusk, a couple of our investigators decided to visit the garden and take photos before the available natural light was exhausted. The garden has a story of its own, Little People, Fairies, and strange sensations. A member of the crew filming the Stephen King film had related his believe to Deanna that the garden was occupied by fairies or the wee people. Much of folklore often has some degree of truth associated with it. Tales of Fairies and the little people are not uncommon. Sunken gardens, areas near water, and particularly small or large mounds of land attract such stories.

The mounds of earth, called Fairy Mounds in folklore of the British Isles, but are also known to every other culture having a scientific basis in fact. They are also called Ley lines or currents of electro-magnetic energy that make points (nodes) on the face of the Earth with either slightly raised or lowered areas of elevation. While Alfred Watkins, who originated the term Ley, meaning cleared land, would probably disagree with some of the current theories behind Ley lines, it is most definitely true that these earth nodes with intersecting energy act as a battery for some as yet undetermined energy that can give rise to a number of different types of paranormal activity. Thornewood was built on one such type of Earth Node, within intersecting Ley Lines. Folklore and tradition have associated any number of elemental life forms with Earth Nodes and Ley Lines. In some cases the traditions regarding Fairy Mounds are so old and still so widely believed that there is very possibly more than a few truths contained about them in folklore.

Some investigators believe that there is more populating the realm of the paranormal than ghosts. More than a few believe that there are sentient entities that are most often called elementals, which tend to inhabit certain areas. Others look for an explanation more in line with phenomena caused by haunting activity. Whatever it might be, there is certainly a fascinating type of energy at work in the sunken garden of the Castle.

Moving our equipment up to the very large door to the Castle, we noticed that there is an interesting energy on the grounds of Thornewood. We had no sophisticated equipment to measure this, but, often, subjective feelings can discern as much as an array of complex equipment is able to measure.

Deanna was full of enthusiasm as she led us around the first floor and settled in what was once the smoking room to tell us about her personal experiences at Thornewood, as well as those of many guests who had spent some time in the Castle. “It’s healing,” she said. “Guests often remark about the re-energizing ability of Thornewood”. In fact it was that same energy that the group commented upon when we first entered the Castle, a feeling very much as if the house contains energy or is situated in an area that relates to a phenomena called a vortex. A vortex according to many paranormal researchers is a field of energy that acts like a spiritual battery. The energy it supplies is neither positive or negative, but there is substantial anecdotal evidence that such fields are conducive to paranormal phenomena whether such phenomena is activity associated with a haunting or an energy that can have an impact on physical, mental, and spiritual health. Perhaps this accounts for at least a subjective feeling of an electrical atmosphere inside the Castle. Certain types of energy are often associated with healing and sleep and different states of sleep. According to Deanna no one has ever spent a restless night at Thornewood. The sole exception might be some of the remaining personalities who prefer to move around at night and watch over any renovations to their old home.

We started the first step in our investigation by interviewing Deanna Robinson, who along with her husband Wayne is the owner of Thornewood. According to Deanna there is a special feeling, a peaceful energy associated with the Castle, but in addition to the energy there has been some notable ghostly activity. “During the filming of ROSE RED the crew was in the ballroom and a lamp just goes on. Everyone looked at each other to see who turned the lamp on but no one had touched it. Lights have a habit of going on and off”, said Deanna. “I was giving a tour as part of a High Tea and it was probably a group of thirty people with me and as I looked around I saw an apparition.” While visible apparitions may be the exception at Thornewood, would be brides do see the image of a young lady in one of the mirrors on occasion. Ghosts at Thornewood might also seem to like the dark or just more attention. “We have problems with light bulbs coming unscrewed throughout the house”, said Deanna. According to Deanna’s husband Wayne, who is skeptical by nature, he has tried to keep a record of lights that are found unscrewed throughout Thornewood. “This more than anything else is the one thing that puzzles me most about any sort of phenomena here”, he said.


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