We’ve all been there. The dread, the woe and the living hell that is arguing with your partner about whether you want a leather or cloth sofa. Sure, the cloth is comfier, but the cats will have a field day scratching up the side that your guests will see most frequently. On the flip side, maybe the leather just doesn’t feel right. Regardless, if you’re me then you’re wrong and you just go with what the wife decides anyway.
While looking for the chilling tales of Spokane’s haunts, I came across this gem.
Dania Furniture. This is absolutely one of the nicest and best furniture stores that I’ve ever been in. The selection and quality of the items are unmatched in Spokane and the staging to present each piece shows touches of pure artistry. If you’re furniture shopping, you’d be doing yourself a real disservice by not starting and ending here. The friendly staff might even tell you about the resident ghosts that inhabit the building. No kidding, the representative I spoke with got a little nervous just talking about them.
Some time ago this building had undergone a renovation. As what can often be the case with hauntings, a disturbance in a happy silent haunt can become more volatile when the swing of hammers fall. That’s what happened here. During the renovation process, workers apparently really angered something. Their tools would disappear or outright fly at their heads. While renovating, the workers discovered something long covered and hidden.
In this right picture, you can see a doorway. It was used quite frequently during the prohibition. Spokanites would come to revel in “The Cactus Room” one of Spokane’s great speakeasies. The doorway was used to bring in booze through Spokane’s underground tunnel system. While the tunnels have been sealed off or filled in, the cactus room motif still remains in the storage room of the furniture store. This isn’t available to be accessed by the public but if you’re nice enough and decide to buy the leather, I’m sure they’d let you take a tour. However, buyer beware; years ago, I spoke to a warehouse worker there and he told me about a crying little girl he heard that could only be a ghost. After he mentioned it, he clammed up quickly as to not invite her back to his workspace.
Reports of the paranormal vary within the store as whatever specters decide to manifest do so at random and at all times of the day and night. The fourth floor seems to be a hotspot of activity. A common occurrence on the third floor is an auditory one. You’ll be sure that there’s no one above you on the fourth floor then hear walking on the floor just above you. Upon inspection, there’s no one there.
Employees and customers can often feel as if they’re prey to whatever may be lurking behind that designer sofa. The spirit is thought to be a male that often lurks just out the corner of your eye. Workers have often seen a blur just as they’ve turned fast and tried to spot this specter.
Other reports include orbs within the building. While spiritually, this is a common occurrence and relatively harmless, a spiritual rave is one that I’d rather not attend while still amongst the living. Workers have heard crashing and breaking only to find nothing disturbed. Other times, they’ve had floors look ransacked, yet no one has entered the building or been on that floor.
If you want your furniture buying experience to be more of an adventure rather than a domestic dispute, then I’d suggest giving Dania in Spokane a shot. As you can see this is quite the spooktacular place to argue over furniture coverings. So, will it be the cloth or the leather?
