Ten bedrooms, five bathrooms, four fireplaces and 6,000 square feet – the dream fixer-upper for a bargain $50,000. So the question is, exactly how haunted is this house?
The James Seymour Mansion was built in 1861 by, you guessed it, James Seymour, a notable philanthropist who had founded the local library and city hospital. Located on a street lined with Victorian homes in the historic city of Auburn, New York, the three story mansion has kept almost all of its original character (and possibly a few souls of previous tenants), but at $50,000, who cares about a few little ghosts? They’re probably not even the violent kind.
It could make a charming B&B, wouldn’t you agree? Auburn is located at the end of one of the Finger Lakes, and has a steady tourist income thanks to several local historical sites related to the Civil War, Underground Railroad, Black History, art history, women’s rights and more. The house itself was once part of a historic house tour each year at Christmas.
We asked the professional opinion of a historic preservationist, who believes that the home requires very little work to bring it up to safe living conditions. But of course, in a living & breathing house like this, all ya need to do is move in, and it will start fixing itself, right?
So other than the ghosts, what’s the catch? The taxes are around $2000 a year based off the $163,000 assessment, which is a pretty good deal, but you would need to consider that once the home is restored and improvements are made to the exterior and surrounding land, the ‘tax assessment’ would increase. Then again, this might be an excuse to keep the house marinating in all its original and slightly creepy glory, with those weathered, peeling walls and creaky floors (think: Dennis Sever’s House). Maybe your B&B could have a haunted Victorian theme? Just throwing out ideas…
Just picture your life raising a family in this historic home, telling stories by the fire, spending hot summers reading on the porch, and never, ever going into the basement. Probably should avoid the attic too.
Snap it up before the Addams family do!
