Lilburn Mansion

A striking Gothic Revival mansion built in 1857 by iron magnate Henry Richard Hazelhurst, Lilburn is considered the most haunted residence in Ellicott City.

Henry Richard Hazelhurst, originally from Abington, Berkshire, England, built this striking 7,000-square-foot Gothic and Romanesque Revival mansion in 1857 after making a fortune in Baltimore iron works. The granite castle boasts twenty rooms, a four-story medieval tower, twelve-foot ceilings, and seven marble fireplaces. Hazelhurst remarried Elizabeth Virginia McKim after losing his first wife in 1848, and the family moved to Ellicott City with their two children, Maria and George. A third child, Catherine, was born soon after the mansion was completed.

Tragedy defined the Hazelhurst years at Lilburn. Maria Eleanor died of childhood illness at age three in 1858. Throughout the following years, Elizabeth bore three more daughters: Margaret, Julia, and Elizabeth. Julia died in childbirth in 1893 at age thirty-one, laboring in the mansion tower trying to deliver her first child—neither mother nor baby survived. Margaret died mysteriously in 1895 at thirty-six, with little recorded about her death. Henry, watching his family die one by one, reportedly called Lilburn "a place of tragic memories." He died in 1900 at age eighty-five, having outlived most of his children. During the Civil War, the Hazelhursts had allowed the mansion to serve as a hospital for wounded soldiers.

A reclusive man named Wells purchased the mansion next, inhabiting it with his family into the early 1920s. Known for his petulant demeanor, Wells snapped at anyone who tried to speak with him and planted a seven-foot hedge around the property for privacy. The Wells family stayed mainly indoors, emerging only on Sunday mornings for church. Wells was found dead in the mansion library.

In 1923, John McGinnis purchased Lilburn, but a devastating Christmas fire destroyed the front parlor and interior. During reconstruction, McGinnis replaced the original gothic tower spires with stone battlements—a change that apparently angered the spirits. Paranormal activity increased dramatically, and ghost stories began circulating through town.

For decades, Lilburn has been reputed as the residence of "Margaret," a nineteenth-century ghost. An elderly neighbor across the street on College Avenue reported hearing many stories about Margaret over twenty years. Residents learned to address the chandelier directly—"Now, Margaret"—to stop its inexplicable swinging during family gatherings. The heavy dining room chandelier famously swung with great vigor during a 1960 family event with no explanation, and later owners witnessed the same phenomenon decades later.

Housekeepers have seen the apparition of a young girl wearing a chiffon dress playing in various rooms. The same entity has been observed walking down a hallway accompanied by a male figure—possibly Henry Hazelhurst himself. The form of a male apparition once materialized in a doorway directly in front of a witness. Cigar smoke drifts through the library when no one is smoking—a scent associated with Henry, who died in the house.

The tower generates the most intense activity. Heavy footsteps climb the tower stairs when no one is there. Windows in the tower open by themselves and sometimes refuse to close; one determined resident tied them shut with rope, only to come outside and find them untied and open again. A child crying emanates from an upstairs bedroom—one family reported their dog was terrified to enter that second-floor room. A vase of flowers once turned upside down and emptied itself onto the floor with no explanation.

A paranormal researcher interviewed a woman named Judy who experienced a strange connection to the mansion. She recalled, "For some reason I connected with a woman in the house, who was very, very sad." Judy described an insatiable desire to visit the property: "I'm surprised no one ever called the cops on me. Because I'd go and I'd sit outside the house in my little car and I'd bawl my eyes out for an hour."

Lilburn has been featured on Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, and A&E for its paranormal reputation. The mansion now operates as a haunted Airbnb, where brave guests can sleep among the spirits of the tragic Hazelhurst family. Local ghost tours consider it the most haunted residence in Ellicott City, with activity spanning more than a century of documented encounters.