Dear Alan, I remember an Ask Alan question on your site a while back about buying or renting a house and really enjoyed reading your insights. It got me thinking. I've just moved into a new house (well, it's actually a flat split over two stories in a building that must be about 200 years old) and wanted to know more about it - its history, previous occupants, that kind of thing. Quite frankly, I'm too lazy to do my research at the local library and the person I bought it from had only been there a couple of years so couldn't really help.

My question to you is: Can you tell me about the place I live in?

Thanks, Jeremy

Dear Jeremy, I find myself being asked for this type of property reading more and more. And I don't think it's about being lazy or not wanting to do the research, it's more about discovering what the energetic imprint of the location has to say - which can be an excellent starting point for undertaking further research.

So, let's see what I can detect about your new home remotely.

The first thing that I feel is that where you are living was once a single family house that has been split into smaller units. It wasn't always flats; this is a recent conversion. It has an urban location but due to the fact that it's tucked away it has a quiet and peaceful feel to it.

I sense that you and your wife moved in just before mid-October last year. And in December you began some renovation work. To date, your efforts to restore some of the period features has focussed on the second bedroom. It's in this room that you started and in this room that you have stopped. And it's because of what's happened since you started the renovations that work has stopped. I get a strong sense that you and your wife fear that the room is haunted.

I have an image of a fireplace in this bedroom. And that's where your efforts were directed - at restoring the original fireplace and making it functional again. Just to the left of the fireplace I have an image of a man and a woman playing chess. The couple are actually father and daughter.

I've been given the year of 1826. Their family name started with or sounded like "Rosen-". The family consisted of the father and two daughters and they occupied the house for nearly seventy years after which it fell into disrepair. Until recently, I sense it's been used as office space or storage - and there's a strong academic association with it. Until your arrival, it feels like it was just full of boxes and files.

Your wife is convinced the room is haunted. And I sense that you are starting to think the same. Fortunately, I can reassure you that neither the flat nor the bedroom is haunted.

But since you began work on the fireplace, you triggered an energetic shift. Energy that was there only as a residue has been somehow recharged. And what you are sensing is the residual energy of the father and daughter having spent years and years playing chess in the corner by the fire. What you're experiencing is often mistaken for a haunting but it's more likened to a video recorder playing a tape. However, in this instance the recorder and the tape are the walls and structure itself.

The energy in the room is benign and you needn't engage in any space clearing. It's just there and will remain there until you start imprinting your own energy on the room. Over time you will find that the room settles down.

And yes, the room will make a lovely nursery - in fact, sooner than you think!

I wish you all the best with your new home and growing family!