If there are such things as ghosts -- and whooooooo's to say there aren't -- then there also must be haunted houses. After all, everybody has to live somewhere, even apparitions.

Actually, the Nation's Capital has more than its share of tormented haunts, possibly more than any other city on earth. So, in the spirit of Halloween, the lone annual holiday that celebrates the supernatural, let's take a psychic journey through Washington.

There's no better place to start than the White House, where the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, among other former occupants, has been spotted on numerous occasions.

Eleanor Roosevelt said she often felt the presence of the 16th president, and Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands fainted dead away when she answered a knock on her bedroom door and was confronted by the bearded specter himself.

The latest to meet Lincoln's ghost was Maureen Reagan, the actor's oldest daughter, who awoke in the Lincoln bedroom to behold "a transparent person." And no, it wasn't her father.

Other ghostly inhabitants of the White House include Abigail Adams, the bride of John and the first First Lady to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Abby dried her wash in the fabled East Room and has been seen wandering through the room with arms full of laundry.

Then there's the shadow of a British soldier who died on the White House grounds during the War of 1812. He most recently appeared in 1954 with a torch in hand.

The Capitol building is possessed, too. According to John Alexander, a local disc jockey whose efforts to produce a one-hour Halloween radio special in 1970 turned into a book on famous Washington ghost stories, one of the earliest spirits reported to roaming the corridors of the 199-year-old structure is a stone mason who somehow got himself sealed into one of the walls during the seven-year construction period.

Better known ghostly inhabitants of the Capitol include John Quincy Adams, who is always seen on the very spot in the House chamber where he collapsed while delivering an impassioned speech degrading "a most unrighteous war" with Mexico. And on one New Year's Eve, Generals Grant and Lee were caught shaking hands as the clock struck 12.

Spirits also have a way of popping up in other famous Washington buildings, including Octagon House, which is now a museum. The odd-shaped, six-sided structure was one of the few buildings spared by the British when they burned Washington, and it was lent to John and Dolley Madison while the White House was being rebuilt.

Dolley's so loved the place that she returns to smell the lilacs and dance. So do two daughters of the original owner, Col. John Tayloe, both of whom fell to their deaths on the stairs.

Octagon House is owned by the American Institute of Architects. And interestingly, the specter of the famous french architect Pierre L'Enfant, who designed the capital city, has been seen pacing the lower floor of the Capitol, waiting to be paid for his work.

Halcyon House in Georgetown is haunted, too. Originally the home of Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy, its basement was connected during the Civil War to a tunnel from the Potomac River that was part of the Underground Railroad. According to legend, the moans and groans of slaves who died in the basement can still be heard.

In the 1930s, the house was acquired by Albert Clemons who believed that as long as he kept adding on to it, he would not die. He worked like crazy, adding rooms, facades, doors that opened to walls and a staircase that led nowhere. After he died in 1938, hauntings in the house began increasing. On two separate occasions, occupants awoke at night to find themselves floating above their beds.

Decatur House on Lafayette Square in the heart of the city is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Stephen Decatur, one of America's great military heros, and his wife Susan. The place is now a museum, too, but Stephen, who died there in 1820 from a wound received during a duel, has been seen gazing sadly out the bedroom window. And sometimes the sounds of Susan weeping can be heard as well.

Published: October 25, 1999

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.