The George Stickney House or simply Stickney House or Stickney Mansion is located in rural McHenry County, Illinois, in the small village of Bull Valley. The Stickney House is currently the Bull Valley Police Headquarters since 1985. The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. The house is widely considered bizarre due to its design, which was based, in part, on George and Sylvia Stickney's belief in Spiritualism. This house continues to be the subject of several ghostlore stories. George and Sylvia Stickney George and Sylvia Stickney built this English country house in 1865. They chose such an isolated place for the peace and quiet and for their spiritualistic activities. Both of them were said to be accomplished mediums and they wanted to host parties and seances for their friends. The seclusion offered by the Illinois countryside made the perfect setting. The Stickneys may have drifted toward spiritualism as a way to communicate with their dead children; they had ten children but only three survived to adulthood. It is known that the family conducted seances on the second floor of the building, in Sylvia's ballroom. In the years since the house left the hands of the Stickney family, owners have reported supernatural occurrences. Architecture The house itself was very unusual in its design. It has two stories, although the second floor was reserved for a ballroom that ran the entire length of the building. The house is actually very big for being built in the 1800s. Upstairs has two rooms, one with a bathroom, and down the hall is Sylvia's ballroom that has three more rooms connecting to it. During the Civil War, the house also served as quarters for Federal soldiers and was home to the first piano in McHenry County. This was not why the house gained its fame though! The Stickneys insisted on adding distinctive features into the design of the house. These features, they assured the architect, would assist them when holding seances and gatherings at the property. They believed that spirits have a tendency to get stuck in 90 degree corners. It has also been suggested that the Stickneys believed that corners attracted the attention of evil spirits as well, a common belief in Spiritualist circles of the time. Therefore, the home's interior was designed with no 90 degree angles between the walls. Rumor has it that there is