First Look Inside the Hoover House: What We Found Before the Investigation Even Started
“I wasn't looking for ghosts. I was looking for everything else — because if I don't understand the environment first, I have no business drawing any conclusions about what happens inside it.”
— Jason Hawes
Before any real investigation begins, I always want to walk the location in the light — no cameras rolling for evidence, no equipment running, just me getting a feel for the place. The Hoover House stopped me in my tracks the moment we stepped through the front door. There's something about a location that has genuine history behind it, and this one had that weight you can almost feel before anyone tells you a single story.
I've been doing this long enough to know that the most important work we do happens before the sun goes down. Walking through the Hoover House for the first time, I wasn't looking for ghosts. I was looking for everything else — the layout, the structural quirks, the way sound travels from room to room, the condition of the floors, the drafts, the lighting. Every one of those things will matter later when we're in the dark and something catches our attention. If I don't understand the environment first, I have no business drawing any conclusions about what happens inside it.
What struck me right away about the Hoover House was the layout. These older properties have a way of compressing space in unexpected ways — hallways that seem shorter than they should be, rooms that don't quite line up with what you'd expect from the outside dimensions. That kind of architectural irregularity creates all kinds of natural explanations for what people report: sounds that seem to come from nowhere, shadows in peripheral vision, a sense of presence in a doorway that turns out to be nothing more than the way light falls through an adjacent window. I make note of all of it. That's not me being dismissive of the claims — that's me doing my job.
There were a few specific areas inside the house that have come up repeatedly in the accounts we received before arriving. I don't want to get ahead of what we'll cover in the investigation itself, but I will say that when we stood in those spots during the walkthrough, there were some immediate, practical observations worth logging. One of the rooms had a noticeable temperature variance that had nothing to do with anything paranormal — old construction, poor insulation, and the position of the room relative to the exterior wall explained it clearly. That matters. Because if someone walks into that room during an investigation without knowing that context, they might interpret that cold spot as something it simply isn't. I'd rather rule that out on the front end than spend an hour chasing it in the dark.
Some of the items inside the house also caught our attention — pieces that have apparently been part of the property for years and that previous visitors have pointed to as focal points for the activity reported here. I approach objects the same way I approach everything else: with curiosity and a healthy dose of skepticism. Old things carry stories, and stories have a way of growing over time. My job isn't to validate the legend. My job is to find out what's actually happening — or not happening — and give the people connected to this place an honest answer. That's what I've always believed this work is really about. Not the drama, not the atmosphere, not the reputation of the location. The truth. Whatever that turns out to be.
The Hoover House is a genuinely interesting location with real history, and I can see why it's generated the reports it has over the years. Going into the investigation, my position is exactly where it always is — skeptical, methodical, and open to being surprised. We'll let the evidence tell the story.