Ellingham Academy

Ellingham Academy was founded by Albert Ellingham in the 1930s. Upon its founding, the main house was built first, and the campus was later expanded to the full grounds that stands there today. Albert, his wife Iris, and their daughter Alice lived there and often had their friends to visit. Later on, once it was opened as a school, its residences expanded to include the students and teachers. For a brief period of time, the school was closed, and students were sent home due to kidnapping of the Ellinghams and the murder of Iris. However, the school later reopene,d and generations of students have lived on campus. The academy is located on Mount Hatchet in Vermont; rumors said that he chose that space when he got lost getting to Burlington to the yacht club. The Academy was designed to look and feel like a Mount Olympus replica with Greek and Roman god and goddess statues all around the campus, as Albert Ellingham loved Greek and Roman cultures.

## Buildings Within

### Minerva

Minerva is the house that most of the main characters in the present day reside in, such as Stevie, Nate, Janelle, and Hayes. It was also the house where Dottie was assigned to. Back in the day, it used to house the guests that the Ellinghams invited to their residence.

### Art Barn

This was the only building that was added to the original campus. It is noted that it is a place where everything happens in addition to art, such as yoga classes and meetings. It borders the wall garden.

### Library

This building houses over a half a million books, has access to millions more digitally, and partners with the libraries of the Ivy League colleges . It was intentionally designed to look like a church, as Albert Ellingham had said that "knowledge was his religion and libraries were his church". It is made of stone, has a large rose window, and a rounded set of red double doors. There are bookshelves that lined the interior structure. The levels can be accessed by elaborate spiral staircases. It is noted by Stevie even though it should be the quietest and stillest building, it seemed a bit wild. One notable feature is the study yurt, the place where many students sleep, study, and maybe have sex (although this information is implied by Kaz).

### Great House

This used to be the residence of the Ellingham family. It has a massive foyer with balconies on the upper floors and master stairs that lead up to them. There is a massive painting at the top of the first stairs that was painted by Leonard Holmes Nair; it was of Iris and Albert looking away from each other in front of the lake and observatory at night with a full moon. To Stevie, it seemed as if something haunted their shadows and that it foretells the doom of the couple and school. In present day, the head security's desk is located next to the front door.

#### Dayroom

The dayroom is located on the desk's right side. Everything in the room, including the furnishings and curtains, was imported from Lyon, France and was in the 18th century style.

#### Ballroom

The ballroom is located next to the dayroom and has a set of glass double doors. The floor was made of black and white marble diamonds and the walls were slashed with mirrors that went from the floor to the ceiling, framed in silver. The curtains were of similar length and were rose-pink in a style similar to theater curtains. If you pull down on the Venetian mask, it opens a space that connects it to Albert Ellingham's office.

#### Albert Ellingham's Office

This room held most of the conversations about the kidnapping in the 1930s. There is a secret room between the office and the ballroom that Flora had used when listening to a conversation about the kidnapping. It was two stories high was was carpeted from end to end with Persian rugs on top. There was also a fireplace, made of rose-colored marble, with a leopard rug. The windows stretched up to the ceiling and covered with heavy satin drapes. The second story was made up of only bookshelves that were empty. Two massive desks filled one edge of the wall. One held six black telephones, an old spinning globe, and a dictaphone.

#### Iris's Room

The most notable thing about her room is the valuables she keeps inside (hence why it is always locked). Flora enters this room through the servant stairway and her dressing room. It has a mirrored makeup table with cosmetics lined up like soldiers on top and drawers with other products. The closet was filled with racks and shelves of other clothing and stuff.

## Other Places

### Walled Garden/Sunken Garden

The garden was designed in a regal way, with influences from the royal gardens of England and France. It can be accessed to through a black and heavy door. It is surrounded with a ring of trees. The Great House stands at one end of the garden with a patio that leads to the lawn. There are also other small features such as small fountains and benches, but the greatest is the lake. Iris Ellingham had used it in the past as a pool, as she was a champion swimmer. It was drained, however, when Albert Ellingham heard from a psychic that Alice was in it. It was never refilled, possibly because of the memories attached to it. In the center is a dome structure that Albert called as his "island of peace"; it is the place where he had brought the money and was hit in the head by a mysterious person.

### Tunnels

The tunnels are noted to have hidden alcohol in the 1930s because of Prohibition (the law that banned alcohol). Dottie discovered the tunnels during her stay and often hid there, especially in a glass-dome; she was also attacked here by a mysterious man later known to be George Marsh. It is also the place where Hayes died while filming for his project that Stevie and Nate helped with. It is said that the cause of his death was from carbon monoxide poisoning from the dry ice.

### Paths

The paths make no sense and as rumors say, Albert Ellingham followed one of his cats and had a stone path made along the routes it preferred to take because "cats know best" (this rumor wasn't true, but because Albert Ellingham loved the rumor so much there was another rumor that he made this rumor).