Crystal Lake medium’s paranormal tours of Dole Mansion seek to highlight space’s unique history, energy

When it comes to spirits, paranormal tours of the historic Dole Mansion in Crystal Lake are a family affair.

Not only does the mansion’s medium-in-residence, Loren Purcell, seek out the spirits of Charles Dole, his wife and children, but Purcell does so with her own husband and children in tow.

Purcell began hosting paranormal tours of the mansion in late April, and whether guests feel spirit energy or believe in ghosts at all, both Purcell and the Dole’s operators think it is a great way to experience the landmark’s 157-year history.

“I have run into full-on skeptics,” Purcell said, “and we’ve talked more about the architecture of the building. This highlights the Dole in a way that creates awareness in the community and the wonderful things people should know about it.”

A recent tour included about a dozen guests, including children. Purcell promised an experience that would be “a tad bit spooky,” but that “all the spirits here are happy and welcoming.” Guests were encouraged to try out copper dowsing rods and choose crystal pendulums as they went through the three floors of the mansion.

Upcoming dates for paranormal tour at the Dole include 8 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. June 23, 10 p.m. June 24, 8 p.m. July 7, 8 and 10 p.m. July 9 and 8 p.m. July 10. Information about Purcell and her tours can be found at www.mysticchick.net/paranormal-exploration.

Non-paranormal history tours of the mansion also will take place during the Lakeside Festival from June 30 to July 3.

In one part of the mansion, Purcell points out where casket niches were placed along the staircase; the niches, original to the house, allowed workers to move the coffins down the winding stairs to the first floor parlor, according to the Crystal Lake Historical Society.

At least two deaths also have occurred on the premises, including Charles Dole’s son, Sydney, who died when he was 26, Purcell said.

Another death the Historical Society said occurred at the home provides great fodder for a paranormal tour: Charles Dole’s mother-in-law, whose name was Harriet Coffin.

The Purcells are just a few of the creatives attracted to the Dole Mansion and its history, and the Dole’s proprietors love it when local partners find unusual ways to highlight the space, said its chief relationships officer, Erin McElroy.

“It’s lovely when Loren does something like this that exposes people, not just to her gifts, but about our history,” McElroy said. “We feel we’re a cultural destination hub, and having people with unique offerings here draws in the community. It’s a rarity to have a place the public can enjoy like this that hasn’t been redeveloped.”

McElroy said the Dole staff has great respect for resident artists who use the space in new ways and she hopes local partners such as Purcell can help facilitate pent-up demand from residents and visitors ready to enjoy the McHenry County region this summer sans pandemic restrictions.

The mansion’s history dates back to Charles Sidney Dole, a grain merchant and ice harvester whose business would cut ice from Crystal Lake, which he’d then ship to Knickerbocker Ice in Chicago, according to the Dole.

In the time since the Victorian mansion originally was built, its purveyors have included Eliza “Lou” Ringling, who married into the Ringling Brothers’ Circus business – she married the eldest brother, Albert – and built the mansion’s annex in 1922 for the Crystal Lake Country Club. The mansion was unoccupied for only a few years in the 1970s, before being bought by the First Congregational Church, and later, the Lakeside Legacy Foundation.

That the mansion still contains rooms with only partial restoration, or walls untouched for decades, is part accident and also part of the building’s charm and appeal, McElroy said.

“The Dole still offers a unique peek into what once was,” McElroy said. “The grandeur, the artisanship, it’s clearly of the 19th century.”

The staff’s long-term vision is to have enough funding to do a full restoration of the building, although such a project would cost millions, McElroy said.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the country club, and McElroy said she found Ringling’s story as a female entrepreneur in the 1920s inspirational.

The annex Ringling commissioned is now not only where banquets and events are held, but also where artists in residence, such as Purcell, now have their studios, McElroy said.

Purcell, whose family moved to Crystal Lake when she was a teen, opened her studio at the Dole last September, trying out several different possible tours as a “litmus test,” including moon circles, to see what the community might respond to, she said.

While Purcell originally wanted to focus on individuals’ psychic development, eventually she decided on the more universal history tours.

Purcell acquired her knowledge of the mansion, including unusual anecdotes, over time, speaking with a number of mansion staff or artists in residence, such as psychic Joe Diamond, and reviewing historical records, she said.

“It’s a constant process,” Purcell said. “It’s 150 years of history. Could take a while to dig in. Sometimes, it’s harder than expected. But I keep getting drawn back to the Dole. There’s something special about this place.”

While Purcell claims she has seen ghosts at the mansion, including Ringling’s, and others have told her figures in Victorian garb have appeared in photos they took, she said one’s relationship to the paranormal is highly individualized.

“We are our own radio channels,” Purcell said. “Whatever we are feeling in the moment, we are going to attract different energies, different layers of spirits passing through. Not every spirit recognizes every person. Spirits and ghosts are just part of one aspect of the spectrum of energy around us all the time.”

Ben Klein, 8, who went on the tour with his mother, Beth, said the paranormal tour was his first.

“I am only scared of ghosts when they are in a creepy room,” Ben said. That said, Ben said he enjoyed it and would do the tour again.