Reviewed by Josh N · Updated September 15, 2026 · How we verify
Reported Phenomena
- Phantom footsteps
- Apparitions
- Children's laughter
- Face in basement wall
- Doors slamming
- Feeling of being watched
- Sudden cold spots
- Disembodied voice
Reported by visitors & local legend. Stories, not verified claims.
The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast occupies a plain frame house on a side street in Fall River, Massachusetts, a few minutes’ walk from the Main Street business district where Andrew Borden made his money. Two people were killed inside it in 1892, the case was never solved to anyone’s satisfaction, and the building has spent the last three decades selling overnight stays to people who want to sleep in the rooms where it happened. Almost everything about the place is unusual, including the fact that the room where Abby Borden’s body was found has repeatedly been the most requested bedroom in the house.
Quick Orientation: 230 Second Street
- Where: 230 Second Street, Fall River, Massachusetts. The address was 92 Second Street until the house numbers on the street were changed in 1896.
- Built for: two apartments, converted by Andrew Borden into a single family home after he bought it in 1872.
- The crime: the 1892 double murder of Andrew and Abby Borden, still officially unsolved.
- Now: a bed and breakfast and museum, operating in that form since 1996.
- Owner: Lance Zaal, of the tour company US Ghost Adventures, who bought the property for $2 million after it was listed in May 2021.
- Access: guided tours and overnight bookings.
The House Andrew Borden Refused to Modernize
Andrew Borden owned the Second Street house from 1872 to 1892. He was a bank president and a member of Fall River high society, which makes the choice of address strange: the house was a middle class property, and it was unusual for a man of his standing to live in one. He bought it because it was close to his business on Main Street.
After purchasing it, he altered the building so that instead of two apartments it became one home for his family. What he did not do was modernize it. He declined to install the newest technologies of the day, including indoor plumbing and electricity. Instead there was a two-stall privy in the basement and a chamber pot under every bed. Six people lived in the house: Andrew, his wife Abby, his daughters Emma and Lizzie, and a maid, Bridget, who slept in the attic.
It was a quiet household. There were few parties, in part because Lizzie, who moved in socialite circles, was too embarrassed to show the house to her wealthy friends. That detail is worth carrying with you through the rooms, because the entire property is a study in a rich man living cheaply and the family who had to live there with him.
1892, the Acquittal, and Maplecroft
Andrew and Abby Borden were killed inside the house in 1892, struck down with an axe in the popular account of the case. Lizzie, Andrew’s daughter, became the prime suspect, and the strained relationship between her and her stepmother formed part of the circumstantial case against her. She was tried and acquitted, and no one else was ever convicted. The murders remain unsolved.
Ownership of the house passed from Abby and Andrew to Lizzie upon their deaths in 1892. She did not stay. After the trial she bought another house at 7 French Street, named it Maplecroft, and lived there until her death on June 1, 1927.
How the Borden House Became a Bed and Breakfast
The modern chapter begins with a family inheritance. Martha McGinn’s grandparents purchased the house on August 4, 1948, and McGinn and Ronald Evans, who inherited it, opened it as a bed and breakfast in 1996. The Fall River Historical Society promotes the property as a tourist attraction. According to McGinn, the room where Abby Borden was found murdered was the most requested bedroom on the property.
Donald Woods and Lee-Ann Wilbers bought the house in 2004 and kept it open for ninety-minute tours and overnight bookings. Their rule for guides was strict: tour guides were only allowed to talk about the facts of the case and nothing else. A Ouija board, however, was available for guests to use, which tells you something about where the line was actually drawn.
Much of the murder paraphernalia that visitors now expect dates from this period. A mannequin was placed in the guest room where Abby Borden was killed, and autopsy photographs were set out on the dining room table. Memorabilia from films and television inspired by the case went in too, including photographs of actresses from The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Bathrooms were eventually installed on the premises, though it is not recorded when. Wilbers stayed on at the property as a custodian, and died four days after the sale of the house.
Lance Zaal and the $2 Million Sale
The house was listed for sale in May 2021 and sold to Lance Zaal for $2 million. Zaal owns the tour company US Ghost Adventures, and said he would keep the property running as a bed and breakfast while expanding into other Lizzie Borden themed offerings. His stated plans included two ghost tours, one ninety minutes and one two hours, alongside the existing historical tours, plus a podcast, virtual experiences, themed dinners, bedtime ghost tours of Fall River, murder mystery nights, a wedding venue, and a sixth bedroom.
Preservation was part of the pitch. Zaal has tried to keep the house as is, with original furnishings, duplicated decor, and original hardware. One exception was reported by Smithsonian Magazine in July 2021: he was planning to replace the iron stove with a modern one because of the risk it posed to residents. Like Wilbers before him, Zaal stays on the property to keep an eye on the house.
What Guests Say Happens Overnight
Tours of the house often refer to the possibility of ghostly activity, and the accounts that circulate among guests and staff are consistent enough to list, though none of them are verified events. Reported experiences include:
- Footsteps in the halls with no one walking.
- Apparitions seen in the bedrooms and on the stairs.
- Children’s laughter with no source.
- A face said to appear in the basement wall, origin unexplained.
- Doors slamming shut with no draft or hand behind them.
- A persistent sense of being watched.
- Sudden cold and a feeling of dread in the sitting room where Andrew Borden was killed.
- A disembodied voice attributed to Andrew in the dining room, where his post-mortem was carried out.
Some of these reports have made it into print. In The Ghost Chronicles, the self-described medium Maureen Wood and self-described paranormal scientist Ron Kolek describe experiencing ghostly events inside the house.
The Skeptical Case Against the Borden House Ghosts
The counterargument is specific and it comes from a working investigator. Joe Nickell reports that the claims made at the house rest either on unverifiable personal feelings of a ghostly presence or on well known and well understood techniques such as table-tipping. Table-tipping, like Ouija board and dowsing rod effects, is explained by the ideomotor effect, small unconscious muscle movements made by the participants themselves, rather than by the presence of a spirit.
That does not make a night at 230 Second Street dull. It does mean that the strongest thing the house has going for it is the documented case, not the atmosphere layered on top of it.
Staying at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast
The house takes overnight guests and runs guided tours, and under the current ownership the ghost tours and the historical tours are offered separately, so it is worth checking which one you are booking. The historical tours stick to the case. The ghost tours do not.
If you are booking a bedroom, be aware that the rooms are sold on their connection to the crime, and that the room associated with Abby Borden’s death has long been the one people ask for first. The interiors are furnished to approximate the 1892 house rather than to comfort a modern guest, with original hardware and duplicated decor, and displays of murder related material including autopsy photographs have been part of the presentation for years. Anyone bringing children or squeamish company should know that in advance.
Sources
- Lizzie Borden house hits the market for $2 million
- Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (The New York Times)
- History – Lizzie Borden
- Massachusetts Treasures: A Guide to Marvelous, Must-See Museums
- Chronology 1789 to 1892
- Wikipedia: Lizzie Borden House
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Lizzie Borden Bed And Breakfast located?
Lizzie Borden Bed And Breakfast is located at 92 Second St, Fall River, Massachusetts.
Can you visit Lizzie Borden Bed And Breakfast?
Lizzie Borden Bed And Breakfast is a place where you can stay overnight. Always follow posted rules and respect private property.
Reader sightings
Nobody has reported anything here yet. If you have been, you would be the first.
Report your own visit to Sleeping at 230 Second Street: The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast
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