# Alright... i'm desperate



## crazybob (Apr 11, 2005)

Hey all-

I am looking for a house. Not just any house. A Haunted House. I live in Des Moines, Iowa. I have been hearing lately about a house referred to as "the house of seven ladders." This house is supposedly on the south side of Des Moines. Every story I've heard is different... ranging from a guy who went crazy, killed all of his family, and took out all seven staircases in his house, and replaced them with ladders. Other accounts say that he spent years making all seven ladders out of human bones. Either way, I have been given an exact set of instructions on how to get there by someone who is a Huant enthousiast... and claims to have been there many times. More searching proves this location to be accurate (in general, I havn't been out to the house yet.) So, my question is... is there anyone on here that lives around me and has heard more about this, or is this a myth that other people heard about in your area?

Any information would be helpful.


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

*hmm... no clue*

Found this via Google... 

The house of 7 ladders

Back home in Iowa a man had 7 ladders on the outside of his house leaning up
against it. It was the strangest looking site, and as a child it gave me
strange feeling every time I passed it. When I asked my relatives about the
ladders, they hushed it over, told me stay away and not to worry about it.
As I grew up, the ladders remained. This ruled out a remodeling job. I
later found out that rumour had it that he had murdered his wife and buried
her in the basement. He reportedly placed the ladders up to the upstairs 
windows to allow the spirit of his wife to come in and visit him at night.

We would go and hide in the woods and wait for sundown. I remeber being
chased away by him. Rumor had it that if you waited long enough that his
wife's glowing figure would rome the woods and eventually climb a ladder to
his bedroom. I never bothered this man again.


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## crazybob (Apr 11, 2005)

wow.. i looked on google but couldn't find anything. I'm going to try to find it tonight. Thanks for your help!


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## crazybob (Apr 11, 2005)

Still can't even find this page on google! What did you search for?


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

When I lived in Iowa for 6 months it seemed kind of boring but I didn't need a hobby of making ladders from human bones!
I did attend some Iowa girl's basket ball games though!
Why see the boy's games when basically you get twice the "cheer leaders" at a girl's game for same admission price!


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## crazybob (Apr 11, 2005)

Went out there tonight. After about 2 hours of searching, we found the gravel road it's on. At the end of the dead end road... we found the driveway. You could just barely see the house through the trees. There was dirt and bricks dumped in a pile on the driveway so we couldn't get through. Let me just say... it was scary as S#!T just finding out that this place really does exist.


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## Greencapt (Sep 13, 2005)

Could you see the ladders???? Did it look occupied or abandoned???? Don't keep us in suspense!!!!


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## crazybob (Apr 11, 2005)

LOL.. sorry! All you could see was one corner of the house. It was too dark and not enough of the hose to tell if it was occupied or not. COuldn't see any ladders, but there must be something to it as a police officer followed us back there. They must have other people going in there. I will be going back sometime during the day to see if any more can be made out.


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## Greencapt (Sep 13, 2005)

Heck, if there IS a cop kinda covering the place, I'd ask him to excort you back there enough to see stuff. I'll bet he/she has some stories about the place!


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## mrklaw (Nov 2, 2005)

Here's the posting that was quoted. If you search on google for "house of 7 ladders" and then click on groups, you will find it.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt....se+of+7+ladders&rnum=1&hl=en#7431c4a661998efa


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## Deathtouch (Nov 19, 2004)

I love this kinda stuff. I say, get in there and get some pictures.

Blue Oyster Cult - 
LES INVISIBLES Lyrics

Along the world axis
The Empress lay sleeping 
To the rhyme of the, of the, of the star clock
Seven sleepers
Seven sages
Seven ladders to the, to the 
Seventh heaven


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## jbell229 (Oct 26, 2018)

I am a life-long Southsider of Des Moines. I know the house you speak of. This was a big urban legend in my Parent's day, back in the 50's and 60's. I searched for it myself at some length back in the 80's, until I finally asked my Dad, also a lifelong Southsider, about it's location, since he had been there numerous times himself. That's when I found out it had been torn down years ago. It stood right at the corner of County Line and Fleur Drive. So I'm not sure what house you or your source have been visiting but the House of 7 Ladders has been gone for decades. Sorry for the bummer! However, there's another urban legend that most people don't know about. The Lost City of Ford. It's a ghost town somewhere in the direction of Norwalk, so SouthWest of Des Moines possibly. My Dad thinks he may have found it once back in the 60's but cannot remember it exact location. He says that all that was left were foundations, but it's at the top of an hill on possibly a "B" grade road or a farmer's access road. The area was really creepy with branches scraping both sides of his '57 Chevy as he climbed up the hill. I've always wanted to find it and I've done A LOT of searching in my time, but with no luck! So, sorry about 7 Ladders, and happy Urban Spelunking!


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## Dexterex (Jan 28, 2019)

*Grew up knowing House of Seven ladders*



wilbret said:


> Found this via Google...
> 
> The house of 7 ladders
> 
> ...


I wrote this to support artifact donation to DSM Historical society:
I first met Fred Churchman in the summer of 70 or 71. I lived two houses north of county line road and 
three streets west of 9th street. As a kid my family had friends in the Lakewood community, a few miles 
west of Fred's property and that started my enjoyment of hiking or biking to Lakewood. County Line road 
was the gravel street I would travel to and from Lakewood and Fred lived on County line road. Fred was 
hard to miss and on one of my trips we struck up a conversation.
Keeping in mind that in 1970 I was twelve years old and that was 49 years ago, so I hope my memory 
does me justice. As I remember it Fred was busy in the yard because he took in just about every stray dog 
that happened along. His yard, up the hilltop east and south of the intersection of Fleur Drive and County line 
road was unmowed and littered with items he had gathered over the years, a couple of old cars from the 
20s or 30s, a covered wagon among many other things. He called me over and asked if I recognized a recent 
addition to his group of dogs. I said that I did not.
I got to know him as a elderly man who loved to tell stories and sing rhymes. I met Fred around twelve 
times over three years. As a boy I like his stories about the past. He talked about travel in DSM by 
horse and buggy and how he walked County line road to 9th street to catch a trolly and start a shift 
as (I think) a conducter. He had said that the 9th street trolly started somewhere near the corner 
9th street and county line road and went Norteast thru what is now a golfcourse. 
On one occasion I asked if I could fish his little pond East of his house down a hill. It was the first time
I had ever seen what I came to understand was mud puppy, a water lizard with brown/orange gills that are 
ruffled and stick out and a kind of transparent skin. I either caught it on a line or dug it up.
On one occasion I came by and wound up helping him feed the animals and ended up in his back yard where he 
had a shed that we cleaned out. That is where I saw some stacks of egg carton tops that he had apparently used 
as a diary and where we found some old political buttons which caused me to comment that my brother-in-law had 
started my interest in collecting buttons of all kinds. Fred gave them to me. On one of our future interactions he 
gave me a small wooden box that had some buttons and an award ribbon in it. These were not all pin backs but uniform 
buttons that read DMC Ry Co but I was happy to have them all the same. I cannot recall how I came to have a 
picture of Fred in his conductor uniform and a flat top conductors hat badge that reads Motorman 279 Des Moines 
City RY Co.
The most memorable visit I had involved more kids from my neighborhood, Lisa, Carol, Jennifer, and my brothers. 
We were all on bikes. Fred was delightful, singing a dity and inserting one of the girls names. 
Fred was always unshaved but no beard. He was using twine for a belt and newspaper, which he used for underwear, 
showed above his belt line. On his feet he wore newspaper for socks with rubber hightop flip clasp overboots as shoes. 
I never saw him in anything else. Keep in mind Fred was around ninety years of age and as far as I knew he lived alone.
On the occasion that I helped Fred clean out the shed I helped him carry some boxes from his kitchen to the shed.
His kitchen had no floor which opened his house to the elements, Thats why he had 5 to 6 foot stacks of newspaper all
around the kitchen from a dirt floor to just below the windows and a small ladder up to the foyer floor.
Some time later I was with a girlfriend at her babysitting job in Greenfeild Plaza, a suburb two miles east of Fred's house.
It was night, we were outside and noticed an orange glow off to the west and as it turned out, after a few calls, found out 
Fred's house had caught fire. I do not know if it still had contents but It had been a while since I had seen Fred. 
He was in Omaha, Ne. I later heard a rumour that a fire department had used it for practice but, remembering the
amount of newspaper in the kitchen it seemed like it was an accident waiting to happen.
Fred's house was part of local folklore called "The House of Seven Ladders". I did not want to bring this up when 
visiting him because what I heard was he had lost his beloved wife who was kept upstairs and in order 
to access the other rooms upstairs he used ladders. Yea I know, kids, rumour, scarry stories. Not sure of the origin of 
the story.
After the house was lost I joined the Airforce in 1977 and a bypass was planned for Des Moines which 
would skirt Fred's property. When I next went by the property, the bypass was done and the property had been elevated 
by at least three or four feet. I know this because when I had visited at his driveway gate in the past it was only a one 
to two foot incline up his driveway to the house.
These are the things I remember about Fred Churchman, a motorman for the Des Moines Trolly company and the 
man who lived in "The House of Seven Ladders"


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## Dexterex (Jan 28, 2019)

I first met Fred Churchman in the summer of 70 or 71. I lived two houses north of county line road and 
three streets west of 9th street. As a kid my family had friends in the Lakewood community, a few miles 
west of Fred's property and that started my enjoyment of hiking or biking to Lakewood. County Line road 
was the gravel street I would travel to and from Lakewood and Fred lived on County line road. Fred was 
hard to miss and on one of my trips we struck up a conversation.
Keeping in mind that in 1970 I was twelve years old and that was 49 years ago, so I hope my memory 
does me justice. As I remember it Fred was busy in the yard because he took in just about every stray dog 
that happened along. His yard, up the hilltop east and south of the intersection of Fleur Drive and County line 
road was unmowed and littered with items he had gathered over the years, a couple of old cars from the 
20s or 30s, a covered wagon among many other things. He called me over and asked if I recognized a recent 
addition to his group of dogs. I said that I did not.
I got to know him as a elderly man who loved to tell stories and sing rhymes. I met Fred around twelve 
times over three years. As a boy I like his stories about the past. He talked about travel in DSM by 
horse and buggy and how he walked County line road to 9th street to catch a trolly and start a shift 
as (I think) a conducter. He had said that the 9th street trolly started somewhere near the corner 
9th street and county line road and went Norteast thru what is now a golfcourse. 
On one occasion I asked if I could fish his little pond East of his house down a hill. It was the first time
I had ever seen what I came to understand was mud puppy, a water lizard with brown/orange gills that are 
ruffled and stick out and a kind of transparent skin. I either caught it on a line or dug it up.
On one occasion I came by and wound up helping him feed the animals and ended up in his back yard where he 
had a shed that we cleaned out. That is where I saw some stacks of egg carton tops that he had apparently used 
as a diary and where we found some old political buttons which caused me to comment that my brother-in-law had 
started my interest in collecting buttons of all kinds. Fred gave them to me. On one of our future interactions he 
gave me a small wooden box that had some buttons and an award ribbon in it. These were not all pin backs but uniform 
buttons that read DMC Ry Co but I was happy to have them all the same. I cannot recall how I came to have a 
picture of Fred in his conductor uniform and a flat top conductors hat badge that reads Motorman 279 Des Moines 
City RY Co.
The most memorable visit I had involved more kids from my neighborhood, Lisa, Carol, Jennifer, and my brothers. 
We were all on bikes. Fred was delightful, singing a dity and inserting one of the girls names. 
Fred was always unshaved but no beard. He was using twine for a belt and newspaper, which he used for underwear, 
showed above his belt line. On his feet he wore newspaper for socks with rubber hightop flip clasp overboots as shoes. 
I never saw him in anything else. Keep in mind Fred was around ninety years of age and as far as I knew he lived alone.
On the occasion that I helped Fred clean out the shed I helped him carry some boxes from his kitchen to the shed.
His kitchen had no floor which opened his house to the elements, Thats why he had 5 to 6 foot stacks of newspaper all
around the kitchen from a dirt floor to just below the windows and a small ladder up to the foyer floor.
Some time later I was with a girlfriend at her babysitting job in Greenfeild Plaza, a suburb two miles east of Fred's house.
It was night, we were outside and noticed an orange glow off to the west and as it turned out, after a few calls, found out 
Fred's house had caught fire. I do not know if it still had contents but It had been a while since I had seen Fred. 
He was in Omaha, Ne. I later heard a rumour that a fire department had used it for practice but, remembering the
amount of newspaper in the kitchen it seemed like it was an accident waiting to happen.
Fred's house was part of local folklore called "The House of Seven Ladders". I did not want to bring this up when 
visiting him because what I heard was he had lost his beloved wife who was kept upstairs and in order 
to access the other rooms upstairs he used ladders. Yea I know, kids, rumour, scarry stories. Not sure of the origin of 
the story.
After the house was lost I joined the Airforce in 1977 and a bypass was planned for Des Moines which 
would skirt Fred's property. When I next went by the property, the bypass was done and the property had been elevated 
by at least three or four feet. I know this because when I had visited at his driveway gate in the past it was only a one 
to two foot incline up his driveway to the house.
These are the things I remember about Fred Churchman, a motorman for the Des Moines Trolly company and the 
man who lived in "The House of Seven Ladders"
I was 15 or 16 when the house burnt down, I am now 60.


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## Dexterex (Jan 28, 2019)

sorry I see a double entry, Never posted before


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## dane82 (Sep 24, 2012)

Dexterex said:


> I first met Fred Churchman in the summer of 70 or 71. I lived two houses north of county line road and
> three streets west of 9th street. As a kid my family had friends in the Lakewood community, a few miles
> west of Fred's property and that started my enjoyment of hiking or biking to Lakewood. County Line road
> was the gravel street I would travel to and from Lakewood and Fred lived on County line road. Fred was
> ...


great story!


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## Roby1 (4 mo ago)

crazybob said:


> Hey all-
> 
> I am looking for a house. Not just any house. A Haunted House. I live in Des Moines, Iowa. I have been hearing lately about a house referred to as "the house of seven ladders." This house is supposedly on the south side of Des Moines. Every story I've heard is different... ranging from a guy who went crazy, killed all of his family, and took out all seven staircases in his house, and replaced them with ladders. Other accounts say that he spent years making all seven ladders out of human bones. Either way, I have been given an exact set of instructions on how to get there by someone who is a Huant enthousiast... and claims to have been there many times. More searching proves this location to be accurate (in general, I havn't been out to the house yet.) So, my question is... is there anyone on here that lives around me and has heard more about this, or is this a myth that other people heard about in your area?
> 
> Any information would be helpful.


Hello I'm Roby wondering if there are any pictures of the House of 7 Ladders


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