The House of Seven Gables

Built in 1668 for Captain John Turner, this is the house that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous novel. Hawthorne visited his cousin here and learned about his ancestor Judge Hathorne — then quietly added a "w" to his last name out of shame.

Susanna Ingersoll is the spirit people encounter most often. She is the only person documented to have been both born and died in this house, and she seems determined to stay. Visitors and staff see a woman in period dress watching from windows, then dissolving into nothing. She moves through rooms as if still attending to housework — most often spotted in the second-floor hallway, calm and composed, carrying what witnesses describe as an air of quiet melancholy.

The House of the Seven Gables is one of New England's oldest surviving wooden mansions. Captain John Turner, a wealthy sea merchant who funded its construction through trade with West Indies slave plantations, built it in 1668. The Turner family held it for three generations before selling to Captain Samuel Ingersoll in 1782.

During the witch trial hysteria of 1692, John Turner II feared for his sisters' safety as accusations swept through Salem. He built a secret staircase along the massive central chimney, running from the dining room to the second floor, where his sisters could hide if the magistrates came for them. That hidden passage is now one of the most active spots in the house. Visitors report a man going up and down the concealed stairs, and dark figures near its entrance. One person claimed to have been choked by invisible hands in the attic space above.

The mansion's literary fame comes from Nathaniel Hawthorne, who visited his cousin Susanna Ingersoll here throughout his life. Susanna never married — deliberately, so she could retain ownership of her property — and became one of the wealthiest women in New England through shrewd real estate investments. She showed Hawthorne beams in the attic where additional gables once stood and told him stories of the house's past. But what drove Hawthorne to write was his own bloodline. His great-great-grandfather Judge John Hathorne was one of the most aggressive interrogators during the trials, known for pressuring the accused into confession. Unlike other participants who later apologized, Hathorne showed no remorse. Nathaniel was so ashamed that he added a "w" to his surname. He channeled that guilt into his 1851 novel "The House of the Seven Gables," featuring the villain Judge Pyncheon, based on his ancestor.

A phantom boy haunts the attic and gardens. His identity is unknown despite decades of sightings. Soft laughter echoes through the upper floors, and light footsteps seem to run and play near the gables. A psychic visitor once claimed to have photographed the child, and some speculate he could be Julian Hawthorne, the author's son, though no historical records connect the boy to the property.

Electronic disturbances plague the house. Lights flicker without pattern, water faucets turn on by themselves, and museum staff frequently feel someone watching them in rooms they know are empty. These disruptions tend to cluster around the same areas where the ghosts are seen most often.

Museum staff officially deny any hauntings. "No ghosts here." But the volume of personal accounts — shadow silhouettes on every floor, footsteps with no source, doors opening and closing on their own, and the persistent feeling of being observed — tells a different story. The house opened as a museum in 1910 after philanthropist Caroline Emmerton purchased and restored it, and the reports have continued for over a century.