“…You learn to deal with it.” That is what Billy Sanders, caretaker of the Reynolds Mansion, said talking about the two ghosts or spirits that haunt the Mansion. The Reynolds place is located in Woodfin, which for all practical purposes is Asheville or the Asheville greater area. Woodfin is an incorporated city but is considered an Asheville neighborhood by the citizens.
The Mansion was built in 1847 so it has had plenty of time to acquire its paranormal residents. One of its most interesting periods for acquiring guests from the hereafter began in 1900 when Nathaniel Reynolds become the owner. Reynolds, who also owned a funeral home in Asheville, was known to embalm “clients” from time to time in the Mansion. Then in 1920, Nathaniel Reynolds rented this house to the first female physician in Asheville, Dr. Elizabeth Smith. She operated Reynolds Mansion as an osteopathic sanitarium.
This historic building is now a bed and breakfast inn. While there may be more, there are said to be at least two identified spirits haunting it— Annie Lee Reynolds, a spinster who suffered from either depression or tuberculosis, and the other a young child, said to be a daughter of one of the Reynolds, who died from typhoid fever.
The Mansion’s caretaker explained, “Usually you see Annie Lee on the staircase, or you’ll see orbs or hear a child’s voice,” Sanders says. “I never say anything, but many guests report similar experiences. That’s just part of living here — you learn to deal with it.”