Curtis House Inn (1754 House)

The oldest inn in Connecticut, the Curtis House (now 1754 House Inn) has been welcoming guests for almost three centuries. Featured on Gordon Ramsay's "Hotel Hell" where employees shared paranormal encounters.

Connecticut's oldest continuously operating inn has welcomed wayfarers since 1754, and not all of them have checked out. Built in 1736 by Reverend Anthony Stoddard on a knoll overlooking the road through Woodbury, the structure was converted into a roadside inn by the Curtiss family around 1754—predating the Revolutionary War by two decades. The walls that witnessed stagecoach arrivals and passionate debates about freedom and taxation now harbor at least four permanent residents who refuse to leave.

The most dramatic haunting belongs to Lucius Foot, a former owner who operated the inn from 1852 to 1857. On a bitter winter night, Foot won a handsome sum at a high-stakes poker game held in his establishment. For reasons unknown, he left through the back and took a shortcut through St. Paul's Episcopal Church cemetery. He was found the next morning, frozen to death in the church's work barn—his poker winnings nowhere to be found. Guests staying in Room 1, believed to be Foot's former innkeeper's quarters, report his apparition stomping into the room, loudly removing his boots, and proclaiming "I've had a rough ride" before fading into the walls. One psychic investigator reported the entity dropping his boots and crawling into bed with her.

Sally, a young female spirit, claims the second floor as her domain, with a particular fondness for Room 16. Female guests have awoken to find their covers pulled off, and one woman was shoved clear out of bed. Male guests receive different treatment entirely—Sally tucks them in, fusses with their blankets, and has been known to crawl into bed beside them. In Room 23, an investigator awoke to feel the covers being pulled down, then felt an unseen presence join her in bed.

The ghost of Anthony Stoddard III, grandson of the original builder who renamed the establishment the Curtis House, manifested through his portrait. Staff reported an "unseen but strong presence radiating from the eyes of the painting" that made them feel constantly supervised. After numerous complaints, the owner relocated the portrait to the dining room, giving it one entire wall to itself—and the oppressive feeling subsided.

Joe, a beloved dishwasher who died in 1985, asked to be buried on the property, and his wishes were honored. His apparition has been spotted in the basement, eating his usual plate of mashed potatoes just as he did in life. A young employee once saw him sitting on the stairs in white clothes; years later, upon seeing Joe's memorial plaque, he exclaimed, "This is the guy I saw!"

A matronly woman in period dress watches over the dining room, described by long-time owner TJ Hardisty-Brennan as providing emotional support during events. In the Pub Room and liquor closet, guests encounter an elegant Confederate gentleman—possibly another aspect of Lucius Foot—who makes his presence known among the spirits.

Paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, famous for the Amityville Horror case, stayed at Curtis House many times. She stated: "I have been aware of the haunting of the Curtis House for a very long time. There is a bedroom upstairs, that first bedroom, that room always seems to be very active." Warren personally recommended the inn to visitors seeking authentic haunted accommodations. Donna Kent's Cosmic Society Investigation Team documented EVPs, photographed orbs, and recorded multiple personal experiences, publishing their findings in "Ghost Stories and Legends of Southwestern Connecticut."

The Hardisty family operated the inn for four generations beginning in 1954, witnessing countless paranormal events. Owner TJ Brennan stated flatly: "This inn is haunted. I would walk by a table and two minutes later, a plate would fly off that table. I went to light the fireplace, and it blew up on me and I got burned. There are spirits here." Retired waitress Juanita Chappell witnessed chairs rocking continuously on the second floor with no one present. A housekeeper saw apparitions in multiple rooms. One diner heard the unmistakable sound of horses and a stagecoach approaching—later learning the inn was indeed a historic stagecoach stop, though no one else in her group heard anything.

In 2014, Gordon Ramsay's "Hotel Hell" featured the inn, with Ramsay experiencing difficulty exiting his room during filming—attributed by some to faulty hardware, by others to the spirits. He read from Donna Kent's book about Room 16 on camera. Thrillist named Curtis House the scariest place in Connecticut. After the Hardisty family sold the property in 2018, it briefly became Evergreen Inn and Tavern before the Bates-Walsh family reopened it as the 1754 House in 2020. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a member of Historic Hotels of America since 2021, the inn continues operating—and the spirits, it seems, have no intention of leaving their home of nearly three centuries.