A Haunting at Mount Lofty House

Mount Lofty House - photo courtesy QANTAS

Mount Lofty House was built for Arthur Hardy, Adelaide’s wealthiest man at the time. Hardy was a barrister, pastoralist and quarry owner who was also the first district Grandmaster of the English Freemasons in South Australia.
 The home was built in 1852. The upkeep and housekeeping expenses became too great for the family, so the Hardy's sold it in 1865. A Gardener named George Smith died on 10 August 1922 at the property. During the 1970s the house was a commune.
In 1983, all but the walls were destroyed during the Ash Wednesday fires that ravaged the Adelaide Hills.[1]
 The property was rebuilt in 1986, with the Piccadilly wing added in 1988. In 2009, the Horbelt family purchased the property and have continually upgraded it adding a day spa and restaurant.[2] The buildings are now part of the Grand Mercure Brand of Hotels.[3]

 

 Haunting Australia planned to film here in 2013, but due to renovations and bookings at the time, were declined. Instead, we filmed at the Adelaide Arcade.

Room 7 is said to be one of the most haunted rooms in the building and is in an original section of the house. A visitor from Sydney once had a ghost experience in this room. He reported to staff that he woke up one evening and could feel a presence in the room with him. He could see, at the end of his bed, a woman standing, staring at him. He jumped out of bed and checked his belongings thinking he was being robbed. When he looked around the room, the woman was gone, except, his bed covers now had the distinct shape of a woman lying underneath them, when he pulled the covers back, no one was there!

 The woman in room 7 is not the only ghost, another has been identified as ‘George the Gardener’ who died in 1922. George is seen mostly in the old section of the building. He has been known to wake people up. He is considered a friendly, but curious ghost and is not known to be harmful or to scare people.

© Allen Tiller 2021

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[1] Brad Crouch, A magic moment of inspiration, The Advertiser, (8 Sept 2007), http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/travel/a-magic-moment-of-inspiration/story-e6freexc-1111114373361.

[2] Powla Gee, Meteoric Rise, Hotel Management, (13 May 2011), http://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2011/05/13/grand-mercure-mount-lofty-house-continues-meteoric-rise/0.

[3] [3] Brad Crouch, A magic moment of inspiration, The Advertiser, (8 Sept 2007), http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/travel/a-magic-moment-of-inspiration/story-e6freexc-1111114373361.