Madame Sherri's Castle

Down in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire by the border of Vermont, there's a dirt road.  It is a curvy, one-lane road and has ditches on the side of the road, where I'm afraid I'll end up if I drive faster than 25 mph. On this dirt road is a section of forest called Madame Sherri's Forest.

This place happens to be haunted.

Madame Sherri was a woman from a musical performance background, a costume designer.  She fascinated everyone in the town, so unused to the lifestyle she brought with her.  It began in the late 20s, early 30s, when she had this magnificent house built in the middle of the woods with a stone foundation, a spiral staircase, and fireplace.  She would have grand parties in her house, in the middle of the woods.  The Great Gatsby comes to mind when I think of the kinds of parties she probably had.  Well, unfortunately, at one of these parties there was a fire.  Many people lost their lives in the fire.  Madame Sherri abandoned the house for decades, "losing her mind" in the 50s.  Her house burned down completely some years before her death in 1965.

The stone foundation of the "castle" can be seen today, alone with the staircase.  It's rumored that sometimes a hazy white apparition of a flapper is seen on the stairs.  It's also rumored that occasionally the voices and music of a time long passed can be heard at the spot.

Which I heard.  We didn't see the ghostly figure of Mme. Sherri, but I heard music and chatting.  It was strange, I only heard it in the doorway.  As I stood in the entrance, I heard low jazz music and the sounds of a great number of people having conversations with one another.  I turned to Juliette to ask if she could hear it, but as soon as I turned it was lost.  Turning back again, the music and laughter came back.  So I stood in the door and just tried to imagine what these parties would have been like.  In this grand old house in the middle of the woods down a dirt road, I couldn't help but wonder if there was still a party going on here in the afterlife.

The staircase

My beautiful best friend, sitting on the stairs to nowhere

credit: Juliette

It was standing here that I heard the music and laughter.

Credit: Juliette

Credit: Juliette

Credit: Juliette



For this shoot, Juliette mixed textures up which worked beautifully.  Lace and cork: unexpected, yet good.  I wore two similar textures, leather skirt and shoes with the same appearance.  Two different colors of a similar texture.