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The most haunted mansion in the state of Massachusetts, the S.K. Pierce Mansion, is now up for sale to anyone brave enough to want to live there. It doesn’t even cost that much, considering the price of housing these days.
The haunted mansion, which has appeared on shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, can be purchased for just $1.2 million. Located at 4 West Broadway in Gardner, the 6,988-square-foot home comes with nine bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, and more than its fair share of paranormal activity.
The mansion’s listing on Realtor.com claims it is the ninth most haunted home in the United States.
“Original period details, dramatic architecture, and countless tales of ghostly encounters make this Gardner, MA icon a rare investment opportunity,” the description reads.
Built in 1875, the S.K. Pierce Mansion has 14 rooms in total with fireplaces in four of them – most of them already furnished, lots of hardwood flooring, central air conditioning, and parking for seven vehicles. It has played host to luminaries like President Calvin Coolidge, actress Bette Davis, and showman P.T. Barnum.
According to WBSM 1420, t was built by Sylvester K. Pierce, the owner of S.K. Pierce & Sons Furniture Company, as a dream home for his wife Susan. Unfortunately, after just a few weeks of living in the mansion, Susan died from a mysterious bacterial illness.
During the Great Depression, Sylvester’s youngest son Edward took ownership of the home. He turned it into a boarding home, but things went downhill when gambling, prostitution, and perhaps even murder began happening inside the mansion. He later lost it in 1965 in a poker game.
Now, people claim there is an entity haunts the basement. Many believe it is Edward refusing to leave the mansion, though it could be other members of his family as several, including Sylvester, also died in the house.
Another of the supposed ghosts is that of Finnish immigrant Eino Saari, who was one of the boarders in the home in 1963. Saari died in a fire, as a result of smoking in bed – although strangely, there were no burn marks on the walls, leading people to believe that he may have actually spontaneously combusted. People visiting the mansion today often report smelling smoke in this room, and hearing phantom screams.
Another sordid tale involves a prostitute killed in the mansion’s Red Room, strangled to death. Both she and her killer are believed to haunt the room.
In 2009, a couple bought the mansion, but were forced to sell it because of the haunting. Now, another couple, Rob and Allison Conti, own the haunted mansion. They refurbished it, opened it for public tours in 2022, and are now looking to sell it for a very reasonable price.