THE BARNSTABLE
HOUSE

THE CASE

The Barnstable House, at 3010 Main Street in Barnstable Village, dates to 1713, when it was reportedly built in Scituate, Massachusetts, and then moved by barge to Barnstable in 1716. It was associated with James Paine, whose grandson, Robert Treat Paine, became a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Over its nearly 300-year history, the building served as a private residence, inn, restaurant, and later commercial space.

Locally, it's known as the “House of 11 Ghosts.” Among the reported spirits are Lucy, a young girl said to have drowned in a well or spring beneath the house; Captain John Grey, whose apparition is associated with the cellar; and a woman in white. Other reported phenomena include unexplained footsteps, doors opening by themselves, apparitions, voices, and objects apparently moving on their own.

We were granted rare access to the iconic location on Cape Cod, where by then it was being used for commercial offices. While there were some personal experiences—a possible shadow figure moving between rooms—and some very subjective audio recordings, on the whole there is nothing we would submit as anything evidential to prove or disprove many decades of paranormal claims.

The presence of modern office equipment and the obvious limitations on access to private offices proved to be a definite obstacle, but we were grateful for the opportunity nonetheless. It is difficult to separate legitimate experiences from the past and legends that have grown over the years. There is one story that bears repeating, and it’s perhaps the strangest story connected to the Barnstable House. It happened during a fire in the 1970s. Firefighters responding to the blaze reportedly saw a woman in a white dress standing in an upstairs window. They rushed inside to rescue her—but when they reached the room, there was nobody there.