Barnstable Massachusetts
Beechwood Inn
A fine place to visit for a spectral neighbor…
A spirit owner from the past gets his chuckles and needed attention.
Former long departed Male Owner enjoys his home.
DESCRIPTION/HISTORY
The Beechwood Inn is a Victorian-Queen Anne, two story structure that was built in 1853. It started out as a private home, and remained so for many years. It has a charming wrap-around porch, with two beechwood trees in the front.
This once private home was converted into a bed and breakfast in 1980. In 1994, it was a hostel when the Traugots bought it, and opened their bed and breakfast, calling it The Beechwood Inn, after the two Beechwood trees that grow in the front yard. The Traugots restored the structure, and created 6 lovely upscale rooms, to rent to their guests.
There is a guest room on the first floor, four rooms on the second floor, and one room up on the third floor space. Although all the guest rooms are well done and special, the spirits in this house most often choose the more upscale rooms, and they are listed below.
The one exception is The Eastlake Room, that used to be “The Mischievous Lady’s” bedroom, and she also visits there.
This property was for sale as of July 5th, 2017, and may have new owners now as this writing (date). There are still seven rooms for guests. Here are six of them:
Marble Suite
First floor room that has a lovely view of the garden. There is a 19th Century queen-size brass bed and a beautiful marble fireplace
Rose Suite
A second floor room with a beautiful fireplace, a solid mahogany queen-size canopy bed and other antiques. Described as being very romantic!
Lilac Room
A second floor room with a fireplace, king and twin bed and country Victorian style antique furnishings. The unique bath features a claw-foot tub with brass fixtures, and colored glass window overlooking the magnificent Copper Beech and gardens.
Eastlake Room
This large, L-shaped second floor room offers seasonal views of Cape Cod Bay through stained glass windows. It is decorated with William Morris wallpaper, a spoon carved queen bed and a double bed. The matching marble topped dresser recreates the Eastlake style of the 1880’s.
Cottage Room
Has lovely antique furniture and gorgeous stained glass windows!
Attic Room
Has simple decor and some lovely antics as well.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
Restoring and renovating a structure to an upscale state can act as an environmental trigger, increasing paranormal activity.
Brumder Mansion, WI (Putting in a bar area in the basement theatre acted like a lightning rod, increasing spirit activity).
Maumee Bay Brewing Company, OH (Renovating this fixer-upper opportunity into an upscale Brewhouse really pleased the original spectral owner of the building.)
Hartford Twain House, CT (Fully restoring Twain’s house as a historic house museum drew in the original family.)
Beechwood Inn, MA (The restored inn has two former owners/residents from different eras).
People who loved their home while alive, sometimes stick around to spend their afterlife there, or visit regularly, sharing their forever spot with the living.
Loveland Castle, OH (Still has the spirit of the man who built and adored it.)
Hill-Stead House, CT (The original owner still enjoys her library in this house museum/activity center, and enjoys watching.)
Thayers Historic Bed & Breakfast, MN (Quite a few spirits love this place!)
Beechwood Inn, MA (All three of the spirits love this structure.)
Sometimes spirits have been known to move into a nearby building.
Little Bighorn Battlefield, MT (Spirits of soldiers have moved into staff member’s houses built there.)
Kolb Court, GA (A Civil War soldier who died in a battle on the land moved into a new house built there).
Willard Library, IN (A woman who died on the land that the library was built on has come inside.)
Beechwood Inn, MA (In 1975, The Barnstable House suffered a big fire. It is thought that perhaps that one of the female spirits from that house moved into the Beechwood Inn.)
MANIFESTATIONS
The owners, guests and staff have experienced the tell-tale signs of spirits. There are three possible spirits who like The Beechwood Inn: A male and two different female spirits.
General Activity
Probably caused by all three spirits.
Footsteps throughout the house.
Opening and closing of doors, with no logical explanation.
Moving of objects:
Tools that Mr. Taugot had just put down after using them on a project would disappear.
Guest’s personal belongings are moved to odd spots.
Spirit Toys
Playing with electrical items.
Light bulbs would unscrew by themselves.
TVs in empty rooms would turn on by themselves.
Male Spirit
The former owners felt a male presence and named it “Arthur.”
Possibly, he is a former owner/resident, or visitor from The Barnstable House.
The earliest paranormal activity was noticed by the former owners of The Beechwood Inn property, who revealed to the Traugots the existence of the male spirit resident before Mr. and Mrs. Traugot bought this property, in 1994.
This male spirit likes the Marble Suite. The presence likes to touch guests faces lightly as they lay in bed.
Female Spirit Guest who Visits
She has a home base in the Barnstable House across the street.
She still likes to visit, even after The Barnstable House was repaired, perhaps to get away from the other ten spirits that are said to reside there.
She may like to amuse herself with the Spirit Toys listed above, or may like to move objects around, especially if she wants to hold them a little bit because she likes them.
“The Mischievous Lady”
Thought to be a former owner/resident from a different era, she has been physically seen in detail, looking real, in many parts of the Beechwood Inn.
According to witnesses who have seen her apparition, “The Mischievous Lady” is an older woman, in her late 70s, with grayish, blonde hair, wearing a white gauze dress.
Mr. Traugot first saw her when he was in the front yard. She was standing inside, facing the large window, looking at the travel brochures, and tourist information.
Thinking that she may have wanted more information about their inn, he stopped what he was doing, and rushed inside. When he arrived inside, she had melted into the air.
The Mischievous Lady Has Needs
Described as being friendly, but also a handful; apparently needs attention, being playful and mischievous.
She does this when she wants attention. Her most annoying trick is to slide the bolt over the door of the Rose Room from the inside, as well as other rooms, forcing Mr. Traugot to crawl through the window to unlatch the door.
The Mischievous Lady Likes Music!
Mrs. Traugot was doing her laundry in the laundry room, which has an adjoining door into the Lilac Room. She heard mysterious music coming from the Lilac Room; a room that didn’t have a radio, whose guests had left, she thought.
When she opened the door, to see if their guests had left their own radio, she heard a cheery, older female voice, “Hello!”
OOPS! She backed out quickly, thinking that perhaps she was wrong, and the guests were still there. She checked with her husband, and yes, they had already left. Goose bump time!
PARANORMAL FINDINGS
Owners and guests have had boat loads of personal experiences throughout the eras.
The entities are most active in early spring and around Christmas. Many paranormal experiences were noted by the Taugots and their guests over the 12 years that they have owned the property.
Derek Bartlett, the creator of the tour and founder of Cape And Islands Paranormal Research Society, is quoted in an online article on gothichorrorstories.com, and also has talked to us as well about what they found at The Beechwood Inn. Their experiences and hard evidence caught via their cameras and equipment has convinced them that The Beechwood Inn has spirits.
While I couldn’t find any hard evidence shared online, the Beechwood Inn is listed on many haunted house sites and has a well-known and undisputed reputation of being the home of at least two or three spirits.
STILL HAUNTED?
Yes Indeed!
“The Mischievous Lady,” a male entity, and perhaps another female spirit from the Barnstable House across the street keep the owners company, getting their chuckles from the living.
LOCATION
2839 Main Street
Route 6A, Barnstable, Mass. 02630
800-609-6618 * 508-362-6618
The Beechwood Inn House can be found just north of the town of Barnstable, almost across the street from the Barnstable House, between Pine Oak Road and Harris Meadows Lane that enter into Main Street.
Take the Mid Cape Highway (Route 6) – take Exit #6 for Barnstable. From the off-ramp turn LEFT onto Route 132 North. Take Route 132 for one mile and it will end at a stop sign at Route 6A. Turn RIGHT onto Route 6A East (Main Street) and continue for 1.7 miles. Beechwood is on the right hand side at 2839 Main Street (Route 6A).
SOURCES INCLUDE
- Haunted Massachusetts, by Thomas D’Agostino, Schiffer Publishing, 2007.
- The Ghost Hunter’s Field Guide, by Rich Newman, Llewellyn Publications, 2011
- hauntedtravels.com, Beechwood Inn
- bnbfinder.com
- THE WYTCHERY: A Gothic Curiosity Cabinet Story:The Beechwood Inn, Barnstable Massachusetts: ghostly encounters in the shower. gothichorrorstories.com
