This Hudson Valley Home is Legally Haunted

Did you know a home in the Hudson Valley was declared legally haunted?

Without being told that a home was haunted the Stambovsky family purchased a home located at 1 Laveta Place in Nyack. Jeffery Stambovsky later sued Helen Ackley declaring that he should have been told the home was famously haunted. The landmark ruling is now known as the, “Ghostbusters Ruling.”

The home was built in the early 1900s. After George and Helen Ackley moved in, in the 1960s, stories began to surface that the home was haunted.

The Ackley’s said they would hear phantom footsteps, doors opening and slamming shut and beds shaking violently.

It’s believed that the house was haunted by not one, but three ghosts! According to Helen Ackley one ghost appeared as she was painting.

''He was sitting in midair, watching me paint the ceiling in the living room, rocking and back forth,'' Ackley said, reports the New York Times. ''I was on an 8-foot stepladder. I asked if he approved of what we were doing to the house, if the colors were to his liking. He smiled and he nodded his head.''

Another ghost would spend time in Helen’s daughter’s bed room.

'We don't know whether or not she was the one who woke the children up by shaking the bed,'' Ackley said.

Helen’s son reported a third ghost, a Navy lieutenant during the American Revolution.

''My son saw him eyeball to eyeball outside the basement door,” Ackley said.

Ackley also claimed the ghosts gave the family gifts like coins, rings and a pair of silver sugar tongs.

A psychic visited the house and believed that Sir George, also known as the “Ghost of Nyack,” and his wife, Lady Margaret, were haunting the Nyack home.

Helen Ackley passed away in 2003. It’s believed she is now also haunting the Hudson Valley home.

The early 1990s case led to what’s called the “Ghostbusters Ruling,” which states that sellers must disclose whether a house is haunted to potential buyers. A judge ruled that Stambovksy didn’t have to buy the house, but ordered Stambovsky and Ackley split the down payment.

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