Welcome to the Driskill Hotel. The oldest operating hotel in Austin, Texas. Built by Col. Jesse Driskill, who constructed the finest hotel south of St. Louis.
I was browsing the internet the other day and came across a picture, the one you will see at the end of this article. It looks like a regular painting, but there was something about the face of the girl that was…well, creepy as hell. On the corner of Sixth Street and Brazos Street, in the heart of downtown Austin, stands a historic landmark of Texas hospitality: The Driskill Hotel.
The image took me to various sites where I learned a little more about the strange history of the picture. It seemed to have a bleak one, if true.
The Love Letters painting is one of the world’s most haunted paintings and is most known for its history connected to the five-star Romanesque-style building completed in 1886.
With over $800 a night, the hotel ranges from balcony suites to Presidential suites, each featuring a separate living room with hardwood floors and faux fireplaces.
Each one contains a grandmaster bedroom, bathroom, and lavish décor, filling the suites with a sense of modern elegance.
According to their site, “visiting The Driskill is simply unforgettable – well, apparently so. When it comes to the decor, the love letters replica stands on display.”
The story goes that a young girl of four named Samantha Houston chased her ball down the grand stairs and tripped and fell to her death. People think this painting was then hung up on the hotel’s fifth floor as a tribute to her.
The small, yet powerful piece, was framed and matted under glass, approximately 8×10 in size.
It is quite possible that the painting may have been brought because the little girl in the picture looked like Samantha, but it most certainly isn’t her at all.
When this picture was hung up on the hotel’s fifth floor, people reported feeling dizzy around the painting, nauseous and having strange sensations like being lifted off the ground.
Onlookers have claimed that the girl’s expression in a painting changes when you look away – even for a second.
But who knows?
There is only one way to find out.
The Driskill Hotel, 604 Brazos St, Austin, Texas 78701
SEE MORE: How Art Experts Discovered New John Constable Painting Worth $6.5 Million