Haunting History

Franklin Couple Restores Candlelight House While Preserving Its Ghostly Lore

Writer & Photographer / Christina Cochran

Every town has a ghost story. In Franklin, it lingers at the edge of 17 acres, beside an old family cemetery, inside a weathered brick home built in 1868. Locals call it the Candlelight House — a place where generations have whispered of flickering lights in the windows, rocking chairs that move on their own, and shadows that seem to linger long after dark.

But for Ella Casper and her husband, Adam Eichhorn, the house is more than a legend. It’s their project, their passion — and, perhaps, a little bit of their haunting, too.

“We found the Candlelight House in 2014,” Ella recalls. “My husband and I were looking for land to build a pole barn dream home and to get back to country living. When I saw the ‘for sale’ sign, I had no idea it came with 17 acres, the Owens family cemetery, and this historic house. The moment I stepped inside — even though it was boarded up, dark and dusty — I smelled that old musty scent of history. If you’ve been in a historic home, you know the smell. It instantly felt like home, and I wanted to save it.”

For Adam, the pitch was a little more practical.

“What I told him,” Ella laughs, “was: I found land. Now, there’s an old house on the land that can be my lifelong project to restore — we can’t live in it. But if we can purchase the property, we can build your pole barn shop for all your hobbies. He was sold and said yes — sight unseen.”

They closed on the house on Ella’s birthday in January 2015.

“It was meant to be,” she says. “Though we had no idea what we were getting into.”

At first, the couple didn’t realize they’d bought one of Franklin’s most infamous landmarks.

“Adam’s boss told him that only out-of-towners would buy ‘Franklin’s haunted house,’” Ella recalls. “We had no idea it came with that kind of folklore. But the more we talked to people, the more we learned — stories of lights in the windows, eyes in the basement, knocks and noises, even a rocking chair moving on its own. It was fascinating to us. Not only did we get a beautiful historic home to restore — we get to preserve the stories people share with us.”

One of their own eerie encounters happened while preparing for the 2018 Historic Home Tour. The couple had spent a long Saturday installing plexiglass in the windows. Exhausted, Ella dropped a drill bit that rolled down the back porch roof and disappeared into the grass.

“We looked everywhere for it,” she says. “Adam finally got another bit so we could finish. The next morning, I opened the window sash in that same east bedroom, and there was a drill bit sitting right on the sill — inside the house. I screamed. I ran to Adam and said, ‘Look, they found it and gave it back to me!’ He checked — he still had his bit. To this day, we’ve never found another one under that porch. I can’t explain it any more than someone helped us out. And I think it means the Owens ghosts are okay with what we’re doing.”

That mix of spooky and sweet seems to define the Candlelight House. A local medium once visited and told the couple, “This home was a safe space for Otho Henry Pritchard (1909–1995). He is the only spirit who resides here, but other family members come and go to check on him. The house is filled with love.”

Ella believes that, too.

“I have a hard time deciding how to finish some projects because I want the Owens to like what we do,” she says. “I talk through my ideas with the house every time I’m over there. It feels like respect.”

Slowly but surely, the restoration continues. The house remains entirely original — wood floors, shutters, doors, even the hand-pump well and outhouse.

“Every time we spend time over there, it feels like we’re transported back to 1868,” Ella says. “Our goal is to be part of Franklin’s living history and storytelling tradition. We want to open it up for tours so people can see how simple and untouched life was — and of course, hear the ghost stories, too.”

In the glow of October, the Candlelight House feels like something out of a Gothic novel — its brick walls weathered, its windows dark but watchful. For Ella and Adam, it is not just Franklin’s haunted house but a vessel of memory, mystery and enduring love.

“Four generations of Owens lived in this home,” Ella reflects. “We’re the first non-family members to own it. Our job is to honor that — to keep it original, to preserve every story, and to fill it with love. Haunted or not, that’s what makes it special.”

You can follow their progress and stories on their Facebook page: The Candlelight House.