Oak Hill Sanatorium

[GRWelsh]

Is the "Oak Hill Sanatorium" EGG wrote about the same as the Oakwood Sanitarium?

According to this Facebook post, it was haunted, and used as a filming location in "Damien: Omen II" (1978): [EDIT: My mistake about the filming location reference; that reference to the filming location used in "Damien: Omen II" was for the second photo below, which is of the closed Northwestern Academy, also close to Lake Geneva but south of the lake.]

A bit of background on this thread topic -- when I read EMPIRE OF IMAGINATION (2015), the biography of EGG written by Michael Witwer, I was struck by this passage (p. 33) -- which itself is quoting from an article EGG wrote for CRUSADER magazine:

In the bowels of Oak Hill, the boys explored the "maze of tunnels," crawl spaces, claustrophobic rooms, and secret passages that made up this veritable dungeon -- a place, they thought, more appropriate for dragons, monsters, ghosts, and treasures than patients. Gary would later make it clear that there shouldn't be "any doubts about where much of the inspiration for castle ruins and dungeon adventures came from..."

[geneweigel]

Here is a link where they're discussing the location. garycon.com/community/index.php?threads/gary-con-voy-march-18th-2010.247/page-2

One thinks its a hotel but then realizes they're off and Luke Gygax mentions that his father mentioned to him it was torn down ages ago.

[geneweigel]

I don't know digging around dusty stuff around Lake Geneva is okay but you have to keep one thing in mind about Lake Geneva. Its a resort town. That means its like DIRTY DANCING non-stop. "Richies" versus the "townies", etc. thats the vibe that I was picking up big time. So there isn't a ruin in site if anything falls its almost immediately repurposed. I should have had my head examined after suggesting to Gary to host a con in Lake Geneva. I spent more than enough time in Lake George to know what the Lake scene is about. High prices and the assholes to charge/pay them!

[GRWelsh]

Judging by Ernie's comment on that thread...

The Sanitarium was located just above the Colonial View Apartments/Condos on Hwy 50 just a few blocks downhill from where I currently reside. As a child Dad showed me a few bricks which was all that remained of the facility. Tom Wham and Brian Blume have bothed lived in the Colonial View at sometime. That apartment for those who remember it's placement, would have been the SE corner of the lot with the rest extending away from the current highway.

... that must be the place:

www.lakegenevacondoman.com/Colonial_View_Manor/

[GRWelsh]

I've never been to Lake Geneva, and at this point, it seems unlikely I will go. But I was curious about that sanatorium/sanitarium as an inspiration for the dungeons environment of D&D. Nothing much to see there, now, though... That sanitarium was torn down no later than 1975, since that is when Colonial View Manor was built.

[geneweigel]

Thats up across the Main Street from where they had the Lake Geneva Convention in 2007 if you follow that curved street two blocks South that is where the motel that me and Bill were in (I think Grodog was there as well.). When I walked around over there to get to the con through the wooded areas, and I use my hands to point directions when I speak, so many (including Rob, Ernie and Gary) were telling memories of that area being more wild back in the day and kids playing around out there.

[geneweigel]

Another weird aspect of Lake Geneva is that it was also the home of bad TSR for a lot longer than good TSR so there is an almost palpable negative energy circling it for some reason. If you told me there was a Shining like hotel there somewhere I'd believe it.

[GRWelsh]

Circa 1985: The forces of evil and chaos rise into the ascendancy in Lake Geneva...

Maybe I should be say lawful evil, since we're talking about business executives and lawyers, after all... much worse than any asylum apparitions.