THE CASTLE ON GRANDVIEW DRIVE
By Kim Michael©October 28, 2020
You can also see this on my Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/Author-Kim-Michael-447306082089545
When I wrote a quick story about the Castle on Grandview Drive and put it on Facebook I wasn’t really sure anyone but maybe a handful of people would take the time to read it. And I certainly had no idea that people would respond the way they did. I think there was probably close to 500 hundred responses within a 24 hour period…but looking at it now, I know why. Apparently there are hundreds if not thousands of people just like me who have loved that amazing castle on a hill for most of our lives, particularly at Halloween, and I have been blessed to have experienced it myself in a way that has allowed me to become part of its story.
So I will share with you the article I put on Facebook. Upfront you need to know that I am not a historian of the house and my experience is limited to only one family who lived there for over forty years–The Haase family. So the stories, and what I know about the house, came from the owner, my friend, David Hasse. Also the pictures came from the Peoria Magazine and Peoria Journal Star who I reached out to for permission, but have not heard back yet. Both have run articles on the house as well. So here it is.
THE CASTLE ON GRANDVIEW DRIVE AND HALLOWEEN
If you live or have traveled around in Peoria, you maybe know of the castle on Grandview Drive across the road from the Peoria Country Club, but you may not know the Halloween Story about it–and yes there is a Halloween story.
I believe, now, the house is referred to as the Soderstorm Castle. At one time owned by a Dr. Soderstorm (I’m not sure if he still owns it). I knew the previous owner David Haase whose family bought the house back in the 60s.
I have seen some articles saying that the house is a copy of a chateau in France. Actually, David told me that it is not a copy, it is the original house moved to the US and then Peoria. And they moved it stone by stone and reconstructed it on Grandview Drive. I believe it was a wedding present for a wealthy Peoria couple, and though a prominent Peoria family by the name of Lusk owned it at one time, I am unsure that they were the original owners.
When The Haase family bought it, it had been vacant for years. Vandals broke in a tore up the inside, spray painted orange graffiti on all the walls–then pipes froze and burst because there was no heat, and all the floors buckled and then rotted. David told me they bought the house and 7 acres it sits on for $30,000.
Now David came from a wealthy Peoria family who owned floral stores and greenhouses all over the city, and they did extremely well. David became an architect (studied at Bradley and then UCLA) designing huge homes for wealthy people all over the country, so when he started restoring the Castle on Grandview Drive, he already had construction contacts and resources that most of us would never have had, and even then he put several million dollars into the restoration.
I met David while performing in clubs around the Peoria area, he was a fan who became a friend, and I was invited to the Castle many times and his private estate in Palm Springs. Over the years he had added much to the house including an enclosed pool in the back that was kept 92 degrees year around because David only liked to swim in warm water, and the stones used to make the massive fireplace at the far end were some of the original stones left over from the house reconstruction.
It was a sight to see in the winter. The fog rising off the warm water covered the surface of the pool like a cloud, and the only things visible were two massive stone lions that flanked the stairs at each end.
David also mentioned to me several times that the house was (and probably still is) haunted and he knew the ghost. It was the grandmother of one of the previous owners who owned the house early in the 1900s. The lower level has a greeting room and that is where the old woman would go to sit and listen to her victrola, which if you are not old enough to know what that is, it is a record player with a large horn that amplified the sound. David said that there have been many nights, usually very late, that you could hear that old victrola playing down in the ante-room and the faint sound of an old woman singing with it.
I always think about the house and David this time of year because his absolute favorite holiday was Halloween and being somewhat eccentric he took it to the limit and then some. He hosted a Halloween party each year like no other. There are still people, grown now, who remember as kids, going to the house on Halloween. Yes they remember the almost limitless candy, but even more, how they were treated to a Halloween pageant/show unlike any other–and it was all free.
David would invited his friends to come, dress up and create little Halloween themes that they would perform all over the grounds, and it went of for hours as hundreds of kids came and went. One year they even got a local funeral home to lend them a casket, and people dressed up as monks carried it all over the grounds, literally for hours. David himself had an amazing custom Dracula outfit made, with a cape that opened up into massive wings, and he actually had a dentist make and fit him with prosthetic fangs that looked real.
If you look at the picture of the house you will see a small bridge covering the drive in connected to a small station house on the other side. That bridge was built for the sole purpose of David being able to walk out in his Dracula outfit on that bridge, music blasting and spotlights shining on him, and then he would open those massive wings and welcome his young guests to the show and the party. The effect was amazing and he would do it over an over again throughout the night. You got to love people who do stuff like that. They do it for the fun of it, and the fun is contagious. And even if it is only for one night, the memory of it lasts for a life time. Thanks David.
So many have asked about David and his wife Sally Sommers that I pulled the obituary that appeared in the Peoria Journal Star. He was a truly amazing man and they were a beautiful, amazing, couple–taken far to soon, but they left a legacy that remains for us to enjoy even today.
David William Haase
PEORIA – David William Haase, age 67, of Peoria passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, at his home after several months of declining health.
David was the son of Helen and William James Haase. He married Sally Sommer in 1981. She passed away Aug. 4, 2012.
He was preceded in death by his parents and wife.
Surviving are his mother-in-law, Nancy Sommer of Peoria, Ill.; two nephews, Thomas P. Sommer III and Daniel Sommer; and sister-in-law, Mary Sommer, all residing in Florida.
David and Sally lived at the castle on Grandview Drive for 43 years and were known for hosting Halloween trick-or-treat for thousands of children. They had a very active group of loyal friends whom they entertained in their home with elaborate gourmet dinner parties.
David served on the Board of Directors of the Lakeview and Peoria Riverfront museums, for which he designed floats appearing in the Peoria Santa Claus Parade. He was an active supporter of the ARK animal shelter in Lacon and had a love for all animals. He was very active in sailing and had boats in Peoria and Tortola, British Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean Sea. David and Sally loved to travel and made several worldwide trips.
He graduated from Richwoods High School in 1964 and attended Bradley University, where he studied architectural design. He spent one semester at Oxford University in England and then attended UCLA. Then his career of designing homes started in Peoria, while he studied at UCLA. He was an architectural designer who concentrated on upscale estates throughout the country and abroad. He was described by clients as an artist because his skills went beyond designing the estates, but also to planning and procuring the furnishing for them.
Cremation rites have been accorded by Abts Mortuary in Pekin, Ill. Memorial services and interment at First Federated Church will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Peoria Riverfront Museum, the ARK animal shelter in Lacon or a charity of the donor’s choice.
Online condolences may be made at abtsmortuary.com.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit ourSympathy Store.
Published in Peoria Journal Star on Feb. 9, 2014.
Pictures by Peoria Journal Star
*Peoria Journal Star
Peoria, IL
Pictures by *Peoria Magazine
Natalie Jackson
4736 N. University Street | Peoria, IL 61614-5831 (309) 683-3060
https://www.peoriamagazines.com/
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