Chamber Pots and Ouija Boards: The Lizzie Borden House

Reviewed by Josh N · Updated August 5, 2026 · How we verify

Few addresses in Massachusetts carry as much weight as the Lizzie Borden House, a plain frame building at 230 Second Street in Fall River where Andrew and Abby Borden were killed in 1892. The double murder was never solved. The house, remarkably, is still standing, still furnished in period style, and you can sleep in it.

Quick orientation: the house sits at 230 Second Street in Fall River. It has operated as a bed and breakfast since 1996 and offers guided tours as well as overnight bookings. The Fall River Historical Society promotes the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast as a tourist attraction.

Andrew Borden’s House at 92 Second Street

Andrew Borden owned the property from 1872 to 1892. He was a bank president and a member of Fall River high society, which makes his choice of home genuinely odd: the house was considered middle class and was unusual for someone of his status to live in. He bought it because it sat close to his business on Main Street.

After the purchase he altered the building so that instead of two apartments it became one home for his family. What he would not do was modernise. He refused to install the newest technologies like indoor plumbing and electricity, putting a two-stall privy in the basement and a chamber pot under every bed. Into this house he moved his wife Abby and his daughters Emma and Lizzie, along with a maid, Bridget, who lived in the attic.

Records describe the household as quiet, with not many parties, because Lizzie, a socialite, was too embarrassed to show the house to her wealthy friends. The street number changed from 92 to 230 in 1896.

What the Record Says About the 1892 Murders

Andrew and Abby Borden relinquished ownership of the house upon their deaths in 1892, and it passed to Lizzie. She stood trial for murdering her father and stepmother in the home and was acquitted. Afterwards she bought a different house at 7 French Street, which she named Maplecroft, and lived there until her death on June 1, 1927. The murders remain unsolved. Everything beyond that, including the identity of the killer, is argument rather than record.

From Inheritance to Bed and Breakfast

Martha McGinn’s grandparents bought the house on August 4, 1948. McGinn and Ronald Evans inherited it and opened it as a bed and breakfast in 1996. According to McGinn, the room where Abby Borden was found murdered was the most requested bedroom in the house, which tells you something about the clientele.

Donald Woods and Lee-Ann Wilbers bought the property in 2004 and kept it open for ninety-minute tours and bookings. Their tour guides were only allowed to talk about the facts of the case and nothing else, though an Ouija board was available for guests to use. Much of the murder paraphernalia dates from this period: a mannequin in the guest room where Abby Borden was killed, autopsy photographs laid out on the dining room table, and memorabilia from screen versions of the case, including photographs of actresses from the film The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Bathrooms were installed at some point, though it is not known when. Wilber stayed on as custodian and died four days after the sale of the house.

What Visitors Say Happens Here

Tours of the house often refer to the possibility of ghostly activity. In their book The Ghost Chronicles, self-described medium Maureen Wood and self-described paranormal scientist Ron Kolek write about experiencing ghostly events inside the building. These are personal accounts, not documented incidents, and the house’s own historical tours have at times been restricted to the facts of the case alone.

Joe Nickell’s Objection

Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell has examined the claims made about the house and concluded that they rest on one of two things: unverifiable personal feelings of a ghostly presence, or techniques such as table-tipping. He argues that table-tipping, like Ouija board and dowsing rod effects, is produced by the ideomotor effect rather than by any spirit. Anyone booking a room hoping for evidence should know that a well-documented psychological explanation is already on the table.

Booking a Night at 230 Second Street

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, introducing two ghost tours, one ninety minutes and one two hours, while keeping the historical tours going. He has also floated a podcast, virtual experiences, themed dinners, bedtime ghost tours of Fall River, murder mystery nights, a wedding venue, and a sixth bedroom.

For all the added programming, Zaal has said he wants to keep the house as is, with original furnishings, duplicated decor, and original hardware. One planned change is practical rather than cosmetic: a July 2021 article in Smithsonian Magazine reported he intended to replace the iron stove with a modern one because of the risk it posed to residents. Like Wilber before him, Zaal stays on the property to keep an eye on the house.

Address: 230 Second Street, Fall River, Massachusetts

See Lizzie Borden House for Yourself

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
• Lizzie Borden's house to be B&B Crime scene: Opening is set for next August, but fans of the Fall River ax murders are already reserving rooms.
• Wikipedia: Lizzie Borden House

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