Deerfield Massachusetts
Deerfield Inn
An owner of The Deerfield Inn describes her spirits as
being “mischievous, bossy, and, well, silly.”
A good-natured spirit gets his chuckles by startling the
guests and entertaining the young.
A spectral former owner keeps a motherly eye on living
owners and likes to supervise.
DESCRIPTION
“A History of Welcoming Guests Since 1884.”
The Deerfield Inn is an upscale 1885 vintage inn, complete with a lovely verandah in the front of the two story structure. It has a lovely collection of antique furniture, and a peaceful, friendly aura. Rooms are beautiful, and very comfortable. Meals are delicious. Tom and I had a great time staying here on our summer road trip in 2010.
The Deerfield Inn has twenty-four guest rooms of various types and sizes. Guests can choose from eleven rooms located in the historic structure, while thirteen rooms are in the newly renovated carriage house.
Depending on the size of the bed and room, prices vary accordingly. Twin bed rooms start at two hundred dollars a night. Traditional Queens start at two hundred and twenty dollars a night.
Nice perks are the two guest living rooms with comfortable nooks for “conversation and quiet time.
There is no need to worry about where to dine. Their website states:”Our historic Massachusetts hotel boasts Champney’s Restaurant & Tavern, embracing wing chairs, warming fireplaces, and a constant spirit of serenity, peace, and welcome.”
Guests love the quality of the meals, and enjoy liquid refreshment in the tavern. The local residents also love to gather here as well, enjoying what Champney’s has to offer.
The Deerfield Inn continues on in the spirit of the Bradley brothers, offering fine accommodations in its historic setting, pleasing both its guests and the local residents.
HISTORY
The Deerfield Inn was built in 1884, by the two Bradly brothers, who had just lost their previous inn, burned to the ground on the village common. They picked this location, near the Deerfield River, to rebuild their inn, thinking that it would be closer to a water source in the event of another fire.
The new location was also on the stage coach stop, a natural source of customers, travelers looking for a nice place to spend the night. People traveling in carriages and on horseback would also have appreciated having an upscale inn at this location. For years, the Deerfield Inn was a favorite place to stay for people traveling through on their way to Boston, or Northampton.
Business was so good that the Bradly brothers could afford to enlarge their inn, just a year later. They hired a local contractor, George Arms, who was a gifted builder with an eye for beauty and skill in constructing upscale inns. He knew just how to enlarge the little building into a guest-pleasing hotel.
John and Cora Carlile were the owners during the early part of the 20th century, enjoying what they did immensely. In the 1920s, a brochure claimed that The Deerfield Inn had “the atmosphere and charm of early days, with modern comfort and convenience.” There were 30-cent breakfasts, dinners for a dollar, and travelers could have a double room with running water for only three dollars.
On August 28th of 2011, Hurricane Irene flooded the nearby Deerfield River, which caused an overflow that ruined the inn’s basement, the first floor, and their carriage house, causing also a loss of electricity. The inn was closed for restoration until the spring of 2012. The water and sludge ruined the common rooms in the older structure, while the newer guest rooms suffered destruction in the carriage house.
On their Facebook page, the public kept track of the Deerfield Inn’s progress, as the owners made lemonade out of lemons, rebuilding the ruined parts of the inn to make them even better.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
Sometimes owners of mansions or businesses stick around to supervise or help the living who are the current owners of a property.
Bullock Hotel, SD (The spirit of Seth Bullock takes an active part being the spectral owner, as the living owners need a lot of help and aren’t too smart in his opinion).
Monmouth Plantation, MS (The spirit of General John A Quitman has volunteered to be the spectral host. One of his duties is to inspect the guests, to help the owners).
Thayers Historic Hotel, MN (The spirits of Gus and Caroline Thayer are the friendly spectral greeters who try to help).
Deerfield Inn, MA (The spirits of former owners Caroline and John Carlile still love to be involved in their old inn. Caroline thinks that she knows a better way to do things).
People who have dabbled in spiritualism and seances while alive, seem to be open to staying or visiting their favorite worldly places after passing into the afterlife themselves.
LeDuc Museum, MN (The LeDuc family dabbled in spiritualism, opening a door into the spiritual world).
Hill-Stead House, CT (The mistress of the manor, Theodate Pope, invited mediums to come to Hill-Stead, and lead seances, either out of her love of the paranormal, or because she might have had some unseen company that she wanted to communicate with herself).
Villa Montezuma, CA ( Jesse Shepard was a spiritualist as well as a talented musician, singer and author. He held musical seances in a special room located in the heart of the mansion).
Deerfield Inn, MA (Cora Carlile held seances, trying to contact her husband, John after he had died and passed over. Now that their spirits are together again, they are residing in a place they dearly loved while alive).
The spirits of people who have enjoyed such places while alive, sometimes return after they have passed, to visit or stay awhile to enjoy their memories.
The Menger Hotel, TX (Many spirits had enjoyed the hotel while they were living, and are so attached they want to stay there in their afterlives).
Jekyll Island Club Hotel, GA (Spirits of well-known patrons are still gazing at the views, taste-testing drinks, and enjoying hotel amenities).
General Wayne Inn, PA (The spirits of Hessians are spending their afterlife here, enjoying former pleasures).
Deerfield Inn, MA (There have been many many guests over the years who loved staying at The Deerfield Inn. One of them has decided to spend his afterlife in his favorite inn)
MANIFESTATIONS
The current owner of The Deerfield Inn describes her spirits as being “mischievous, bossy, and, well, silly.” A lot of the activity happens in rooms 48, 43 and 41.
General Manifestations
Any of the spirits who call this place home could be doing these activities.
Lights flashing by themselves.
Mysterious knocks on the doors, made by unseen hands.
Books moving by themselves.
Tables are moved to the middle of rooms.
The Spirit of Cora Carlile
She is described as being a strong, female presence (The “bossy” one).
Her transparent presence, wearing a dressing gown, has been seen, walking around in various areas of the inn, keeping an eye on things.
Late at night, owners have been tapped or pushed gently on the back by Cora, as a reminder that they should go to bed.
The Spirit of John Carlile
John makes personal appearances, appearing to staff and guests as he goes about his business at hand.
He probably has a long list of chores to do around the inn.
Perhaps he is the one who moves the tables to the middle of the rooms.
The Spirit of Hershel
This spirit was a former guest, known as the silly one.
Hershel makes himself known visually as a bright box of bouncing light.
Room 48 –Hershel’s Room
Hershel, a good-natured spirit, gets his chuckles playing little tricks on the guests who stay in this room.
Rearranges their covers and pillows, pulls all the Kleenex out of the box, etc.
This entity loves to make a mess – tosses magazines and books all over the room.
Enjoys being with Kids
Hershel loves children.
He will rock one of the rocking chairs on the front porch to amuse the kids.
PARANORMAL FINDINGS
Plenty of personal experiences have been reported by staff and guests for many years. Perhaps some private investigations have been conducted here, but the results have not been published online.
Stories of paranormal manifestations have made it to several online publications. The owners have said that they also have ghost-free rooms, as well as the haunted ones.
They know the names of their spirits, so someone must have found out for them, either by an EVP, or a psychic or medium.
STILL HAUNTED?
A BIG PROBABLY SO.
The staff and guests have learned to live with their spirit residents; a bossy female innkeeper, a can-do male spirit, (probably her husband), and a silly, good-natured male spirit who loves kids.
LOCATION
81 Old Main Street
Deerfield, Massachusetts 01342
The Deerfield Inn can be found in Historic town of Deerfield. Take Greenfield Road to Memorial Street. Bear to the right, onto Old Main Street. Deerfield is 23 miles north of Northampton, and south of Greenfield, out in the countryside. 91 runs near Deerfield.
SOURCES INCLUDE
- Haunted Massachusetts
by Thomas D’Agostino
Schiffer Books
2007 - “Haunted Hotels in Massachusetts” page on eHow.com
- “Ten Great Places to Sleep with a Ghost” article on Paranormal Daily News
- “25 Haunted New England Inns” slide show on Boston.com
- “Haunted Inns in New England, Part II – Boston Bed & Breakfast” on Examiner.com
Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr
