Maple Hill Manor Bed and Breakfast

This stunning 1851 Greek Revival plantation house is now an award-winning bed and breakfast. The antebellum mansion witnessed the Civil War and has retained its historic charm - along with several resident spirits.

Maple Hill Manor is a grand Greek Revival plantation home situated on 15 acres along Perryville Road in Springfield, Kentucky. Built in 1851 by Thomas McElroy, who presented the estate as a wedding gift to his young bride Sarah Maxwell, the house was constructed by enslaved workers using hand-cut wood. The mansion spans over 7,000 square feet, with soaring 14-foot ceilings and a grand cherry floating spiral staircase that rises through its center. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Kentucky Landmark Home, recognized as one of the best-preserved antebellum homes in the Commonwealth.

Tragedy struck the McElroy family early. Four of the owners' children died on the premises over the years, including one of the original owners' sons who fell to his death from the stairwell. But the house's darkest chapter came during the Civil War. Following the Battle of Perryville in October 1862 — the largest Civil War engagement fought in Kentucky — the manor was commandeered as a field hospital for both Union and Confederate wounded. The second floor served as a surgical area where doctors amputated limbs and fought to save lives, while soldiers who did not survive were buried on the grounds. A family cemetery on the property still marks some of these resting places.

The hauntings at Maple Hill Manor are attributed to this layered history of loss — the children who died young, the soldiers who perished in agony, and the original owners who never truly left. Guests sleeping in the Clara Barton room have reported hearing a woman crying from an adjacent room and a man who seemed to be in great pain during the early morning hours, though no other guests were checked in. One visitor was awakened in the night when someone sat on the edge of their bed, followed by a male voice speaking in the darkness of their room. Another guest felt something physically touch them, and then the smoke detector in their room began buzzing loudly — it stopped when they turned on the light but resumed the moment the light went out, as if something preferred the darkness.

Throughout the house, staff and guests report a consistent catalog of unexplained phenomena: footsteps echoing from unoccupied rooms, knocks on doors with no one behind them, sudden cold spots that arrive and depart within seconds, the scent of phantom perfume drifting through hallways, and unexplained lights appearing in photographs. The sensation of being watched is common, accompanied by the physical feeling of hair standing on end.

The child who fell from the stairwell is said to still roam the manor. Visitors have occasionally reported the presence of a small figure near the grand staircase, a poignant echo of the boy's final moments. The property has been featured in over a dozen books, three television shows, and six magazine and newspaper articles about its paranormal activity, and has hosted more than 50 formal ghost investigations. Paranormal teams including Paranormal Connections and Supernatural Investigative Services have conducted multi-hour investigations using ghost-hunting equipment throughout the house. Maple Hill Manor continues to operate as a bed and breakfast, offering overnight stays and exclusive paranormal investigation packages for groups willing to spend a night with Kentucky's most persistent spirits.