"Stop pointing," my walking companion said, shooing my index finger down.
"It's just a house — it doesn't have feelings," I said.
"The people who live there do."
My companion wanted me to be discreet as we passed the residence of someone who had been in the news, drawing protesters and unwanted attention to his property and neighbors. My reaction was not unique. Other passersby sped up, slowed down or generally behaved oddly near the house, as if the structure were a black hole exerting invisible but powerful energy.
Many neighborhoods have residences that are noteworthy — or notorious — because of something that happened in them or the people who stayed there. Some places get a rep because of a celebrity association. Other houses have darker histories, including as sites of molestation, abuse or murder.
"Everything happens in houses — births, weddings, divorces, deaths, all the important events of people's lives," said veteran real estate agent Bruce Birkeland, Coldwell Banker. "That cuts across all classes. And you usually can feel the karma, or if you're religious, spirit, in the place. Houses have essences, and those can usually be changed by opening them up with windows and light."
Birkeland, who has sold over a billion dollars' worth of real estate in the Twin Cities in his 30-plus years in the industry, said that people believe strongly that houses can be haunted by ghosts. That can influence their decisions in unexpected ways.
"I once had someone back out of a sale after the seller said, 'The house has a wonderful spirit,' " he recalled. "She got as white as printer paper. She took it that he meant there was a ghost in there, and wouldn't buy the house."